Kirby: Russia Acting Like They've Decided to Invade, It 'Could Happen Any Day,' But We Won't Impose Sanctions on Russia Yet

On Monday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “America’s Newsroom,” Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said that Vladimir Putin is “acting in a way consistent with a man who has decided that he wants to invade Ukraine” and “Every indication is that he’s preparing for a large-scale invasion.” Which “could happen any day,” but the U.S. won’t impose sanctions on Russia because “we want them to have a deterrent effect, clearly. And he hasn’t invaded yet.”

Kirby said, [relevant remarks begin around 2:30] “I mean, look, it’s very clear what Mr. Putin is doing. I mean, he’s continued to add military capability. We continue to believe that he is acting in a way consistent with a man who has decided that he wants to invade Ukraine again.”

After the discussion turned to sanctions, Kirby stated, “Well look, I mean, we want them to have a deterrent effect, clearly. And he hasn’t invaded yet. So, look, if you punish somebody for something they haven’t done yet, well, then, they might as well go ahead and do it. So, we’ve been very clear about what they are, how severe they’re going to be. And we’ll see what Mr. Putin decides to do.”

Kirby added that an invasion “could happen any day, and that includes today. Today could be that day. Again, Bill, we’re seeing things in the intelligence realm that are certainly giving us concern about how close he is now to moving. But frankly, Bill, and I saw it on your network just a little bit ago, you can see it in plain sight. You can see the cell phone video of tanks and armored vehicles and missile launchers being put into position. You can look on the web and look at commercial satellite imagery about how much he’s now got presence — his presence there and how close he’s bringing that to Ukraine. Every indication is that he’s preparing for a large-scale invasion.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett