TRUDEAU ANNOUNCES NEW SANCTIONS ON RUSSIA AS MOSCOW RAMPS UP PRESSURE ON UKRAINE

By Chandrayee Roy Choudhury, Canada: The federal government has announced a new round of sanctions on Russia and is promising further economic penalties if the Kremlin fails to halt what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described as a "further invasion" of Ukraine.

Trudeau announced the sanctions Tuesday, one day after Russian President Vladimir Putin formally recognized two renegade districts in eastern Ukraine where Moscow-backed proxy forces have been fighting Ukrainian forces for seven years.

In addition to the penalties, the prime minister ordered the deployment of another 460 Canadian Armed Forces personnel — army, navy and air force — to join NATO's mission in eastern Europe to reassure allies bordering Russia.