Russia Has "Closed Door" on Diplomacy About Ukraine: Biden Official

The United States believes that Russia's official recognition of two Ukrainian separatist states is a sign that Moscow has shut down the potential for a diplomatic end to the countries' ongoing conflict, according to a Biden administration official.

© Photo by Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart at the Kremlin in Moscow on February 22, 2022. White House advisor Jonathan Finer said that Putin's recent actions show that Russia is "closing the door" on the possibility of a diplomatic end to its current conflict with Ukraine.

In an interview with CNN, U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor Jonathan Finer revealed that additional sanctions will be announced Tuesday against Russia--a response to the "egregious step they took yesterday away from diplomacy and down the path for war."

"I believe that what Russia has done has made a diplomatic path much harder to walk down and much less likely," said Finer. "We've been in close consultation with our partners about what the next diplomatic step should be, but they have closed the door even further to diplomacy by the way that they have conducted their business yesterday."

Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk on Monday.

Despite saying that Russia is no longer pursuing diplomacy, Finer explained that the United States and other NATO allies won't give up on those types of options.

"We are not going to slam that door shut," he continued. "We continue to believe that that is the best way for this conflict to deescalate rather than Russia continuing down the path of war, which they are giving every indication that they are on a different course."