A pair of North American leaders are levying further sanctions against President Vladimir Putin for the attack on Ukraine.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stressed that Canada will punish Russia with financial penalties against 58 individuals and entities as well as the halting of all export permits.
“We condemn unequivocally this attack on Ukraine, this invasion of Ukraine, but also the violation of the UN Charter, the principles, the rule of law internationally, and we will respond forcefully to make sure that Russia fails,” Trudeau stressed during an afternoon news conference.
Russian troops launched the assault earlier on Thursday that has reportedly left 40 Ukrainian soldiers dead.
United States President Joe Biden told reporters that the four large Russian banks will face sanctions (including VTB and SberBank) and there will a restriction applied to Russia’s sovereign debt to state-owned enterprises, companies whose assets exceed $1.4 trillion.
“Putin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war. And now he and his country will bear the consequences,” Biden said.
Both leaders, when asked whether this means war, would only say that troops will be in Europe to defend the NATO allies and reassure those allies in the East.
