Russian President Vladimir Putin announced<\/a> a \u201cspecial military operation\u201d seeking the \u201cdemilitarization and de-Nazification of Ukraine,\u201d in an apparent declaration of war. <\/p>\nThomas-Greenfield called it a \u201cperilous moment.\u201d Blasts could be heard in Kyiv soon after Putin\u2019s speech, which was televised at around 5:45 a.m. Moscow time.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re here for one reason and one reason only: To ask Russia to stop. Return to your borders. Send your troops and your tanks and your planes back to their barracks and hangars. And send your diplomats to the negotiating table, back away from the brink before it is too late,\u201d Thomas-Greenfield said, adding that what the U.S. and its allies had predicted has become true.<\/p>\n
Thomas-Greenfield said there is \u201cno middle ground,\u201d and only Russia is \u201cculpable\u201d for the conflict. Putin\u2019s declaration could launch the largest land war in Europe since World War II, a conflict that will bring an \u201cuntold amount of human suffering,\u201d Thomas-Greenfield said. <\/p>\n
\u201cRussia has brought its people, the Ukrainian people and the world to the brink of a conflict that will produce an untold amount of human suffering,\u201d Thomas-Greenfield said. \u201cEvery day Russians should be asking themselves right now: How many Russian lives Putin sacrifice for his cynical ambitions?\u201d<\/p>\n
Immediately after Putin’s statement, President Joe Biden responded with his own statement.<\/p>\n
“The prayers of the entire world are with the people of Ukraine tonight,” he said, “as they suffer an unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces. President Putin has chosen a premeditated war that will bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering. Russia alone is responsible for the death and destruction this attack will bring, and the United States and its Allies and partners will respond in a united and decisive way. The world will hold Russia accountable.”<\/p>\n