WASHINGTON — The United States and its allies on Tuesday swiftly imposed economic sanctions on Russia for what President Biden denounced as the beginning of an “invasion of Ukraine,” unveiling a set of coordinated punishments as Western officials confirmed that Russian forces had begun crossing the Ukrainian border.
Speaking from the White House, Mr. Biden condemned President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and said the immediate consequences for his aggression against Ukraine included the loss of a key natural gas pipeline and cutting off global financing to two Russian banks and a handful of the country’s elites.
“Who in the Lord’s name does Putin think gives him the right to declare new so-called countries on territory that belonged to his neighbors?” Mr. Biden said on Tuesday afternoon, joining a cascade of criticism from global leaders earlier in the day. “This is a flagrant violation of international law and demands a firm response from the international community.”
Mr. Biden warned Mr. Putin of the possibility of additional sanctions if he does not withdraw his forces from the conflict and engage in diplomatic efforts.
But that prospect remained dim by the end of the day, as Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken canceled plans to meet with the Russian foreign minister on Thursday, saying that it does not “make sense” to hold talks while Russian forces are on the move.
“To put it simply, Russia just announced that it is carving out a big chunk of Ukraine,” Mr. Biden said, adding, “He’s setting up a rationale to take more territory by force.”
According to NATO, European Union, White House officials, the global response began on Tuesday morning, hours after Putin declared separatist states in eastern Ukraine. Russian forces then began rolling into their territory. It was the first major Russian military deployment to the international border since the current crisis.
At a news conference in Moscow, Mr. Putin said that he had not decided to send in troops “right at this moment.” But officials said the invasion started overnight, just hours before Mr. Putin’s Parliament formally granted him the authority to deploy the military abroad. Ukrainians near the territory controlled by Kremlin-backed separatists have already endured days of shelling, and as Ukrainian troops hunkered down in their trenches and civilians took shelter in basements, the country’s military said that one soldier had been killed so far and six wounded.
The Russian actions and the Western response to them caused financial markets around the globe to wobble on Tuesday. The news pushed stocks lower in the United States. The S&P 500 is now in correction territory, more 10 percent below its January peak. Oil prices, which had reached nearly $100 per barrel in anticipation of a global disruption, settled for $96.84 per barrel, an increase of 1.5 percent.
The global sanctions package was described as severe by Mr. Biden and his counterparts from England, Germany and other European countries. They include financial sanctions by the United States to prevent Russia from borrowing money in Western markets.
The Nord Stream 2 pipeline was put on hold by Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The $11 billion conduit from Russia to Germany — completed but not yet operational — is crucial to Moscow’s plans to increase energy sales to Europe. The British government and European Union foreign ministers approved sanctions against Moscow legislators who voted to authorize force.
“It will hurt a lot,” said the E.U. Josep Borrell Fontelles is the chief of foreign policy.
In an attempt to pressurize Mr. Putin with severe restrictions on his ambitions in high-tech industries, the governments of Japan and Singapore issued a joint statement stating that they would restrict technology exports to Russia.
But the moves in Washington and other capitals around the world were limited in scope and fell short of the more sweeping economic warfare that some — including members of Congress and other supporters of Ukraine — have repeatedly demanded in recent weeks.
Biden and his counterparts said they had to balance the need for swift and severe action with the possibility of increasing sanctions on Russia if Mr. Putin escalates conflict by…
