CNN co-host Brianna Keilar pressed Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer on Tuesday on whether Russia’s incursion into Ukraine in the past 24 hours should be considered an invasion.
The exchange comes a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the Donbas and Luhansk regions of Eastern Ukraine as independent. Those areas consist of pro-Russian separatists. Following Putin’s announcement, Russian troops reportedly entered the Donbas following an order from Putin for troops to go into Eastern Ukraine. There are reportedly as many as 190,000 Russian troops along Ukraine’s border.
On New Day, Keilar asked Finer if the Biden administration views what has happened as “an invasion.”
“Look, Brianna, we think this is, yes, the beginning of an invasion, Russia’s latest invasion into Ukraine, and you’re already seeing the beginning of our response that we have said will be swift and severe,” said Finer, who went on to cite President Joe Biden signing an executive order on Monday in response to Putin’s announcement. Finer also mentioned Germany stopping the Russian Nord Stream 2 pipeline from being certified, a move Germany announced on Tuesday. Additionally, Finer noted that the Biden administration will announce on Tuesday new Russia-related sanctions.
That executive order, according to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, “prohibit[s] new investment, trade, and financing by U.S. persons to, from, or in the so-called DNR [Donetsk People’s Republic] and LNR [Luhansk People’s Republic] regions of Ukraine
Moments later, Keilar asked Finer about his own words “the beginning of an invasion.”
“So you called this the beginning of the latest Russian invasion of Ukraine,” she said. “Is that different than an invasion?”
“I think latest is important here. An invasion is an invasion and that is what is under way. But Russia has been invading Ukraine since 2014,” said Finer.
“They’ve been occupying large pieces of Ukraine since 2014 including, although they’ve denied it, Russian troop presence in exactly the two, what they now call republics, but they’re really provinces of a sovereign Ukraine, that they recognized yesterday,” he continued. “So Russia is essentially making overt what it has denied for some time, which is Russian troop presence in these places and we are taking steps in response to that.”
“Why not call it an invasion,” asked Keilar. “Just call it an invasion instead of this talking point of the beginning of the latest Russian invasion of Ukraine?”
“I don’t know how much more clear I can be, Brianna,” said Finer. “This is the beginning of an invasion.”
“Okay. You could just call it an invasion,” Keilar fired back. “And I only ask this because, let us play what the administration has talked about before, they didn’t talk about the beginning — this is how they described an invasion. I want
New Day then played clips of Biden administration officials saying what would define a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“If any, any assembled Russian units move across the Ukrainian border, that is an invasion,” said Biden on Jan. 20. “But it will be met with severe and coordinated economic response that I’ve discussed in detail with our allies as well as laid out very clearly for President Putin.”
“If any Russian military forces move across Ukraine’s border, that’s a renewed invasion,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken the following day. “It will be met with swift, severe and a united response from the United States and our partners and allies.”
“President Biden has spoken to the fact that if a Russian tank or a Russian troop moves across the border, that’s an invasion,” said National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on NBC’s Meet the Press on Feb. 6. “That is an invasion and the result of that, from our perspective, would be the imposition of severe economic consequences.”
“I think the distinction here may have to do with the response that an invasion triggers,” said Keilar. “Why not just call it an invasion?”
“I mean, again, I guess for the third or fourth time, I am calling it an invasion,” said Finer, who repeated that the Biden administration has been and will continue to take action in response to the incursion. He also again mentioned Germany halting Nord Stream 2.
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