Ukraine president drafts reservists, rules out a general mobilization

PanARMENIAN.Net - Ukraine’s president has called up the country’s reservists and warned that Ukraine could face a battle for its very existence as more countries joined in sanctions against Russia, The Guardian reports.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy ruled out a general mobilization in an evening address to the nation. But the decision to bring reservists back into active duty was a further sign that Ukraine was bracing for a possible military clash with its neighbor. It came after Russia began moving troops into the country’s east.

On Tuesday, February 22, President Vladimir Putin said that Russia will support the territorial claims of self-proclaimed republics in Luhansk and Donetsk, dramatically increasing the likelihood of a larger war in the near future. U.S. President Joe Biden denounced the move as an attempt to carve out “a big chunk” of the country.

The U.S. president said he was bringing in tough new sanctions against Russia for “beginning” an invasion of Ukraine but that there was still time to avoid war.

“Who in the Lord’s name does Putin think gives him the right to declare new so-called countries?” Biden said, announcing sanctions on two Russian banks and sweeping measures to stop Russia raising capital in western markets.

Early on Wednesday, Russia’s U.S. ambassador, Anatoly Antonov, dismissed the sanctions, saying: “I don’t remember a single day when our country lived without any restrictions from the western world. We learned how to work in such conditions. And not only survive, but also develop our state.”

U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken cancelled a meeting planned for Thursday with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, saying Russia’s actions indicated it was not serious about a diplomatic path to resolving the crisis.