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Responding swiftly to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s order sending troops to separatist regions of Ukraine, world leaders hit back with non-military actions Tuesday in hopes of averting a full-blown war in Europe, Associated Press reported. 

Germany made the first big move, taking steps to halt certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia — a massive, lucrative deal long sought by Moscow but criticized by the U.S. for increasing Europe’s reliance on Russian energy supplies. 

And in Washington, U.S. President Joe Biden announced financial sanctions on banks and oligarchs as punishment for what he called “the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.” He said the U.S. would impose “full blocking” on two large Russian financial institutions and “comprehensive sanctions” on Russian debt.

“That means we’ve cut off Russia’s government from Western finance,” Biden said. “It can no longer raise money from the West and cannot trade in its new debt on our markets or European markets either.”

Biden promised that more sanctions would be coming if Putin proceeds further.

The European Union announced sanctions taking aim at the 351 Duma legislators who voted in favor of recognizing separatist regions in Ukraine, as well as 27 other Russian officials and institutions from the defense and banking world. They also sought to limit Moscow’s access to EU capital and financial markets. 

“This package of sanctions … will hurt Russia and it will hurt a lot,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said after chairing a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Paris.

“We will make it as difficult as possible for the Kremlin to pursue its aggressive policies,” said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. 

Outside the EU, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson named five Russian banks and three wealthy individuals whom the UK hit with sanctions on Tuesday.

And if Putin pushes further into Ukraine, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg insisted, “there will be even stronger sanctions, even a higher price to pay.”

The U.S. and other Western nations have pressed daily for diplomatic efforts to head off a dangerous military confrontation. But the failure of that effort was underscored Tuesday as Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled plans for a Thursday meeting in Geneva with his Russian counterpart, saying Russia’s actions showed there was no point.

Western powers have long made clear the fate of Ukraine must not lead to a direct military confrontation with Russia and the potential of a world war, so sanctions were the limited option.

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli held a meeting in Baluwatar on Tuesday.

During the meeting, the duo discussed Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and to end the House deadlock.

Nepali Congress Vice-President Purna Bahadur Khadka among other leaders accompanied Deuba in the meeting.

Similarly, senior Vice-Chairman Ishwor Pokharel, Vice-Chairman Bishnu Paudel and Deputy General Secretary Bishnu Rijal attended the meeting from the UML.

Leaders said that the meeting discussed the ways to endorse the $500 million grant agreement from the Parliament.

A Nepali Congress leader said that the UML unofficially agreed to help endorse the MCC.

Saying that the MCC was registered in the Parliament Secretariat during a government led by the UML, PM Deuba, who is also the President of the Nepali Congress, urged Oli to help ratify the compact.

In response, Oli said that they would continue obstructing the House until their demands are met. But the has agreed to create a conducive environment to pass the MCC amid the obstruction, a leader, who attended the meeting, said.

Russia’s parliament approved treaties with two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, opening the way for an immediate Russian troop deployment despite the threat of Western sanctions including the blocking of a major new pipeline, Associated Press reported.

The lower house’s approval of President Vladimir Putin’s decision to recognise the two regions’ independence increased Western fears of war that have rattled global financial markets, hit Russia’s rouble and pushed oil prices to a seven-year high.

Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskiy said his country may sever diplomatic ties with Russia, and the United States and the European Union discussed new sanctions as Ukraine reported continued shelling in east Ukraine.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz put the certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany on ice, a measure widely considered the toughest Europe is likely to take against Moscow at this stage.

“We must reassess the situation, in particular regarding Nord Stream 2,” Scholz told a news conference with the Irish leader in Berlin. The pipe, built to bring gas from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea, has been completed but has yet to win regulatory approval.

Tensions over a Russian troop build-up near Ukraine’s borders have risen sharply since Putin announced on Monday that he was recognising the independence of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions controlled since 2014 by pro-Russian separatists.

He also signed a decree on the deployment of Russian troops to “keep peace” there.

The United States said Monday it is sending all of its diplomats in Ukraine to Poland out of security fears, hours after President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops into two rebel-backed regions in the country, NDTV reported.

Earlier, the Kremlin leader recognized the independence of two rebel-held areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk areas of Ukraine. He then instructed his defense ministry to assume a "peacekeeping" role in the separatist regions.

"Today the Department of State is again taking action for the safety and security of U.S. citizens, including our personnel. For security reasons, Department of State personnel currently in Lviv will spend the night in Poland," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

"We strongly reiterate our recommendation to US citizens to depart Ukraine immediately. The security situation in Ukraine continues to be unpredictable throughout the country and may deteriorate with little notice," he added.

The move comes just over a week after the US relocated its embassy in Kyiv to Lviv, citing the "dramatic acceleration" in the build-up of Russia's forces on the border.