White House Press Secretary Jen PsakiaWASHINGTON, Mar 14 White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that the United States, together with its allies, «totally crushed» the Russian economy with the help of sanctions imposed in response to the military operation in Ukraine. We provided military and humanitarian assistance to the Ukrainians, giving them the opportunity to resist much longer than the Russian leadership intended. And, again, he must determine what the way forward looks like for him,» she said at a daily media briefing. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24th. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Armed Forces strike only at the military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops. With the support of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the DPR and LPR groups are developing an offensive. But the occupation of Ukraine is out of the question, the President of Russia stressed.
