WASHINGTON, USA
Russia's
unprovoked assault on Ukraine, now in its fourth day, has faced
universal condemnation from Western powers.
Sanctions against Russia and aid to Ukraine have come
from many directions. But putting troops on the ground in Ukraine, which
is not a member of NATO, is a line that the US and other
Western allies have not been willing to cross.
US Ambassador to the United
Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told CNN's Dana Bash on "State of the Union" on Sunday that the Biden
administration "has made clear" the US will not "put boots on
the ground."
"We're not going to put
American troops in danger," she said.
But what other factors are
keeping US troops out of Ukraine? Here's what you need to know:
Though the US has condemned
Russia's actions at every chance, President Joe Biden has gone to great lengths to make clear that US forces will
not enter Ukraine and engage Russia directly.
Why's that? As Biden
told NBC News earlier this month, "That's a world war
when Americans and Russia start shooting at one another." In other words,
the US' entrance into the conflict has the potential to touch off a global war.
Retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, a national security and military analyst for CNN, told What Matters on Sunday, "The key to diplomacy is to limit the potential for war. While the current war of Russian illegal invasion into Ukraine is tragic, chaotic and devastating, it is still a regional conflict."
"If NATO or the US sent
troops into Ukraine to help them fight the Russians, the dynamic would shift to
a multinational conflict with potential global implications due to the nuclear
power status of both US and Russia. Because of that, the US and NATO — and
other nations around the world are attempting to influence the success of
Ukraine and the defeat of Russia by providing other types of support,"
Hertling said.
The US has deployed thousands of troops throughout Europe, both
before and during Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
CNN's Barbara Starr reported
Sunday that more than 4,000 US Army troops who deployed to Europe on a
temporary basis will now have their tour of duty extended -- most likely for
several weeks -- as part of the US effort to reassure east European allies
during the current crisis.
But those troops are not there
to fight the Russians.
US forces "are not and
will not be engaged in a conflict with Russia in Ukraine," Biden said from
the White House Thursday.
Rather, US troops are tasked
with defending "our NATO allies and reassure those allies in the east. As
I made crystal clear, the United States will defend every inch of NATO
territory with the full force of American power," Biden added.
Ukraine borders the NATO
member countries of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania. If Russia threatened
one of these countries, the US -- along with France, Germany, the UK and the
rest of the 30-member NATO alliance -- would be required by Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty to respond.
Article 5 guarantees that the
resources of the whole alliance can be used to protect any single member
nation. The first and only time it has been invoked was in the aftermath of the
September 11, 2001 attacks on the US; as a result, NATO allies joined the
invasion of Afghanistan.
The United States will not put
US pilots in the air to create a no-fly zone in Ukraine, Thomas-Greenfield said
Sunday.
The Biden administration's
posture of keeping US forces out of Ukraine means "we're not going to put
American troops in the air as well, but we will work with the Ukrainians to
give them the ability to defend themselves," she said.
While some Ukrainian officials
have called on NATO countries to "close the sky" over Ukraine, establishing a no-fly
zone would put the US in direct engagement with the Russian military which the
White House has made clear it is not interested in doing.
Secretary of State Antony
Blinken said Saturday he has authorized $350 million in new US military assistance to
Ukraine.
"Today, as Ukraine fights
with courage and pride against Russia's brutal and unprovoked assault, I have
authorized, pursuant to a delegation by the President, an unprecedented third
Presidential Drawdown of up to $350 million for immediate support to Ukraine's
defense," the top US diplomat said in a statement.
Previous drawdowns have been
for $60 million and $250 million, putting the total over the last year at more
than a billion dollars, according to an administration official.
Additionally, Blinken
announced Sunday that the US is sending nearly $54 million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine to assist those affected
by Russia's invasion.
In a word, sanctions.
The US and Western countries
have imposed several rounds of sanctions on Russia, targeting
its banking, aerospace and technology sectors. These sanctions enact penalties
across industries, including:
- Asset freezes for the largest banks
- Debt and equity restrictions on critical
mining, transportation and logistics firms
- A large-scale effort to shut down access
to critical technology for key Russian military and industrial sectors
On Friday, the US along
with the European Union, United Kingdom and Canada -- announced it would impose sanctions directly on Russian President Vladimir
Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
And on Saturday, the US and
the European Commission, along with France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom
and Canada, announced they would expel certain Russian banks from SWIFT, the high-security
network that connects thousands of financial institutions around the world.
"Sanctions, blockades,
economic influence, building of alliances against Putin's actions while
simultaneously supplying Ukraine with weapons and other aide will hopefully
prevent escalations and unintended worldwide consequences," Hertling said.
Thomas-Greenfield said Sunday
that the US has "not taken anything off the table" when asked about
targeting the Russian energy sector with sanctions, which so far has not
happened.
"We're ramping up as the
Russians ramp up, so there's more to come," she told Bash.
US and European officials have
discussed targeting the Russian Central Bank with sanctions, a step without precedent for an economy of
Russia's size. Thomas-Greenfield did not give precise timing for that but said,
"This is happening very, very quickly."
The scale of the central bank
sanctions are still under discussion and could have even more bite than
officials have telegraphed, CNN's Phil Mattingly has reported. - CNN
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