Tom Nichols: “Putin has now affirmed that he refuses to accept the outcome of the Cold War and that he will fight to dismantle the European system of peace and security constructed by the international community after its end. This is Vladimir Putin’s forever war, and Russia, cursed as it has been so many times in its history with a terrible leader, will be fighting it for as long as Putin remains the master of the Kremlin.”

Josh Rogin: “What good is unity that doesn’t include the people who are facing the attack? What good is unity that doesn’t involve trying everything possible to stop that attack? What good is unity that is so vague that the united parties can’t even reveal the details of the things they are supposedly united on?”

“The United States and its European partners have achieved unity among themselves, but their united strategy is so limited that it is failing to solve the problem — and Ukraine might soon pay the price.”

“Putin just put Kafka and Orwell to shame: no limits to dictator’s imagination, no lows too low, no lies too blatant, no red lines too red to cross.”

— Lithuania Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte, on Twitter.

The U.S. is moving its Ukraine embassy staff “out of the country and into Poland for security reasons,” Bloomberg reports.

Politico: “It’s an important distinction, as an invasion would trigger sanctions on Russia and imperil diplomatic meetings that were set on the condition that Russia not invade Ukraine.”

“The Biden administration’s posture was met with immediate pushback from Republicans on Capitol Hill, who argued that the full slate of sanctions should be triggered once Russian troops cross into Ukraine. They noted that this was the White House’s own definition of an ‘invasion’ of the country.”

Politico: “Welcome to the new Cold War. And like the last one, strap in for a long and costly military and diplomatic duel with the Kremlin.”