February 22, 2022 Ukraine-Russia crisis news

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine announced Tuesday that reservists would be called up for military training but said there would be no general mobilization of the armed forces, following Russia's recognition of areas in eastern Ukraine held by separatists as independent states.

In a national address, Zelensky said he was still pursuing diplomacy as a way out of the crisis, and welcomed the offer by Turkey to broker talks between Ukraine and Russia. He also called for a summit of all permanent members of the UN Security Council along with Germany and Turkey. 

Zelensky also referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement that the Minsk Agreements designed to end the fighting in eastern Ukraine no longer applied, saying that Ukraine remained committed to seeking its sovereignty and integrity.

Zelensky welcomed the sanctions announced by western governments against Russia and referenced German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's decision to suspend certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which would bring Russian liquid natural gas to Germany and other European markets. 

Zelensky also announced what he called a program of economic patriotism that would include reducing sales tax on gasoline and incentives for investment. He acknowledged that the crisis had caused economic contraction and said the government's goal was to ensure the country's economic independence, especially in the energy sector. The president said he would meet 150 major Ukrainian businesses on Wednesday to persuade them to stay in Ukraine.

He ended his address by saying, "We desire peace and calm but if we are quiet today then tomorrow we will disappear."

Global stock markets tumbled and crude oil prices surged to $99 per barrel on Tuesday after Russia ordered troops into parts of eastern Ukraine.

Wall Street also fell as traders returned from the holiday weekend, but stocks finished off their lows of the day.

The Dow briefly dropped more than 700 points, or 2%, in late afternoon trading before recovering to close down nearly 483 points, or 1.4%. 

The S&P 500 finished the day 1% lower, while the Nasdaq shed 1.2%.

See where the price of oil stands in the chart below:

The sanctions President Biden announced Tuesday amount to "only the sharp edge of the pain we can inflict," a senior US administration official said, suggesting the President is ready to go much further should an invasion of Ukraine escalate. 

"If Putin escalates further, we will escalate further using both financial sanctions and export controls, which we have yet to unveil," the official said.

Keeping the toughest sanctions in reserve is meant to potentially deter the bloody and large-scale attack on Ukraine that US officials have been predicting for several weeks.

"Sanctions are meant to serve a higher purpose, which is to deter and prevent, so we want to prevent a large scale invasion of Ukraine that involves the seizure of major cities, including Kyiv," the official said.

"We want to prevent large scale human suffering, possibly tens of thousands of lives that could be lost in a full scale conflict. And we want to prevent Putin from installing a puppet government that bends to his wishes and denies Ukraine the freedom to set its own course and choose its own destiny. That's what this is all about," the official continued.

More on the sanctions: The official said the blocking sanctions Biden announced on two Russian financial institutions meant they wouldn't be able to make transactions with the United States or Europe. The banks amount to a glorified piggy bank for the Kremlin," the official said.

The official listed three Russian elites who also are coming under sanctions (names to come soon) and said they would "share in the pain" inflicted on the Russian government.

"Other Russian elites and their family members are now on notice that additional actions could be taken on them as well," the official said.

The official listed three Russian elites who also are coming under sanctions and said they would "share in the pain" inflicted on the Russian government. They are Sergey Kiriyenko, the First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration of Russia, and his son Vladimir; Alexander Bortnikov, the head of the Federal Security Service (FSB), and his son Dennis; and Petr Fradkov, CEO of Promsvyazbank.

"Other Russian elites and their family members are now on notice that additional actions could be taken on them as well," the official said.

Hungarian Defense Minister Tibor Benko announced Tuesday that Hungary will deploy troops to its eastern border with Ukraine, for both humanitarian tasks and border protection, in response to Ukraine’s escalating crisis with Russia.

“Therefore, we are regrouping army personnel and military equipment to the eastern region of the country,” Benko added.

Benko went on to stress that "Hungary wants peace" and supports a diplomatic resolution.  

Additionally, Benko said that Hungarian troops will also prepare for the arrival of refugees in anticipation of the situation in Ukraine escalating even more and expanding outside the East.

More background: Though Hungary is a member of NATO, Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Russian President Vladimir Putin remain allies and share a disdain for the Ukrainian government.  

Despite relations being “burdened with tensions [...] Hungary has always expressed support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,” Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Tuesday before meeting his EU counterparts in Brussels, according to a government press release.

The US will move F-35 fighter jets and Apache attack helicopters already in Europe to the Baltic states and NATO’s eastern flank, according to a senior defense official, following US President Joe Biden’s announcement that the administration will bolster the defenses of NATO allies.

In addition, approximately 800 troops constituting an infantry battalion task force will move from Italy to the Baltic region, the official said. 

Four F-35 fighter jets from Germany will deploy to the Baltic states, while another four will deploy to NATO’s southeastern flank. Twenty Apache helicopters from Germany will head for the Baltic states, and another 12 Apaches from Greece deploy to Poland. 

These forces are expected to be in place later this week, the official said. Biden said earlier Tuesday that he wanted to be “clear” that these are “totally defensive moves on our part.”

The US has approximately 90,000 troops in Europe on permanent and rotational orders.

The Defense Ministry of Ukraine says that through 9 p.m. local time in Ukraine, territories under Ukrainian control have been shelled 80 times from the pro-Russian self-declared republics of Luhansk and Donetsk.

The information comes via the Defense Ministry's latest statement on violations of the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine.

Of the 80 incidents, 58 involved weapons prohibited under the Minsk agreements, which stipulate that heavy weapons should not be within 50 kilometers (about 31 miles) of the frontlines.

On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Minsk Agreements "no longer exist," adding, "What is there to implement if we have recognized these two entities?"

The Defense Ministry recorded 84 ceasefire violations on Monday.

As part of Tuesday's attacks, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry says that one soldier had been killed and six others have been injured.

According to the ministry, the town of Shchastya — near Luhansk — has sustained some of the heaviest shelling.

The ministry went on to accuse the Russian-backed separatists of deploying heavy weapons "within settlements to provoke Ukrainian defenders to return fire."

The White House says US President Joe Biden met Tuesday with Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba of Ukraine “to reaffirm the United States’ commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

According to the White House, Biden “updated Foreign Minister Kuleba on the United States’ response to Russia’s decision to recognize the purported ‘independence’ of the so-called DNR and LNR regions of Ukraine, including the Executive Order issued last night and new sanctions announced today,” pledging to continue security assistance and economic support to Ukraine.

“President Biden reiterated the readiness of the United States, in close cooperation with our Allies and partners, to respond swiftly and decisively to any further Russian aggression against Ukraine,” the White House says.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed during a call Tuesday that Russia’s actions “don’t just threaten Ukraine’s sovereignty but are a blatant attack on freedom and democracy,” according to a UK government statement. 

Johnson in the call said Putin’s “actions were a gross violation of international law, and by sending forces into Eastern Ukraine he had ripped up the Budapest and Minsk agreements.” 

On the heels of Russian President Vladimir Putin's order of Russian troops into two separatist pro-Moscow regions in eastern Ukraine, President Biden announced a new round of sanctions against Russia. 

"I'm announcing the first tranche of sanctions to impose costs on Russia in response to their actions yesterday," Biden said in remarks from the White House. "These have been closely coordinated with our allies and partners and we'll continue to escalate sanctions if Russia escalates."

Here are the sanctions as detailed by Biden:

Biden also noted that if Russia "continues its aggression," additional sanctions could follow.

The US President pledged his administration was using “every tool at our disposal” to limit the effect of sanctions against Russia on domestic gas prices, acknowledging that Americans will likely see rising prices at the pump in the coming months.

Moving forward, Biden said the administration is “closely monitoring energy supplies for any disruption.”

Last week, Biden signaled Americans should expect to see rising prices in the event of further sanctions against Russia, currently the second largest oil producer in the world. JPMorgan has warned of $120 or even $150 per barrel crude oil if Russian exports are disrupted. The current price is less than $100 per barrel.

Here's a look at how the price of oil has changed over time:

CNN's DJ Judd contributed reporting to this post.