WASHINGTON — With Russia poised for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration Wednesday stiffened economic sanctions targeting Moscow, and the Ukrainian president made a televised appeal for peace in a dramatic last-minute effort to avert war in Eastern Europe.
“The government in Ukraine wants peace,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said — in Russian — in a late-night video address, seeking to convince Russia’s people that Ukraine is not their enemy. He added that he has tried to reach Russian President Vladimir Putin to no avail.
In Washington, President Joe Biden announced he would allow previously blocked sanctions to take effect against the company behind the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. The U.S. “will not hesitate to take further steps if Russia continues to escalate,” he said in a statement.
