The White House has announced sanctions in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s move to recognize the independent sovereignty of two regions in Eastern Ukraine. In a televised address Monday, Putin challenged Ukrainian statehood, saying the country was created by Bolshevik, communist Russia after the revolution of 1917. He then went on to say he will “recognize the independence and sovereignty of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic”—two areas in Ukraine’s Donbas region held by Russian-backed separatist groups. “I ask the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation to support this decision, and then to ratify the treaties of friendship and mutual assistance with individual republics. These two documents will be prepared and signed in the very near future,” said Putin. “And from those who seized and hold power in Kyiv, we demand an immediate cessation of hostilities.” Shortly after making the speech, Putin signed a decree authorizing …