WATCH: Ukrainian Foreign Minister Tells Fox News There is No ‘Minor Invasion’: ‘Invasion is an Invasion’

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said any incursion into his country by Russia is an “invasion” on Tuesday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has recognized the independence of two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine. Leaders in Donetsk and Luhansk are loyal to the Kremlin.

Putin intends to send in what he calls “peacekeeping” forces into the regions, which President Joe Biden called an “invasion” on Tuesday.

“This is the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine,” Biden said during remarks from the East Room of the White House, in which he announced strong economic sanctions against Moscow.

Kuleba was asked about the encroachment during his joint press conference with Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday.

Ben Hall of Fox News asked:

There is a suggestion that what we have seen so far is a minor invasion, that there is more to come, and so it only warrants sort of lesser U.S. sanctions. I wonder if that is your read as well.

…

What more would you like to see from the U.S. and from the international community to try and deter more aggression?

Kuleba was clear that Ukraine views the slightest encroachment into its territory as an invasion.

“First, there is no minor, middle or major invasion. Invasion is an invasion,” he said. Many observers later noted that Kuleba’s comments appeared to be a swipe at remarks Biden made during a January press conference. “It’s one thing if it’s a minor incursion and we end up having to fight about what to do and not do,” Biden told reporters at his first press conference of 2022. “But if they actually do what they’re capable of doing with the forces amassed on the border, it is going to be a disaster for Russia if they further invade Ukraine.”

Kuleba continued, “Second, as I said earlier, we do appreciate the sanctions which were announced today. They target Russia. They are very specific. They are painful.”

Commenting directly on a Biden executive order from Monday which barred U.S. financial activity between the Americans and the two contested regions, Kuebla said he was unsure if such sanctions would be effective.

Noting today’s sanctions, which essentially isolate Russia from the West, Kuleba commented that incremental sanctions might be effective in deterring Putin:

This strategy of imposing sanctions by waves — if I may call it this way — is something that can work if it continues in a sustainable way. President Putin should not have a single minute when he starts to think that this is the threshold, the pressure reached its ceiling, and that he will not be punished anymore. This pressure should continue to be stepped up, and if that involves regular issuance of executive orders or new sanctions, we will be more than happy to see that.

Watch above, via CNN.

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