image missing
Date: 2025-02-14 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00021754
RUSSIA ATTACKS UKRAINE
PUTIN SHAKES WORLD

Biden unveils new Russia sanctions: Putin must 'bear the consequences'



Original article: https://www.axios.com/biden-sanctions-russie-ukraine-attack-af545579-e533-45c8-88a8-5e9417e07cab.html
Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess
Biden unveils new Russia sanctions: Putin must 'bear the consequences' Zachary Basu and Oriana Gonzalez President Biden on Thursday declared that Russian President Vladimir Putin 'will be a pariah on the international stage' for his unprovoked attack on Ukraine, and announced severe new sanctions that include sweeping export controls and a freeze on billions of dollars worth of Russian assets. Why it matters: The new sanctions are coordinated with the G7 — countries that together make up 50% of the world's GDP — and are designed to 'maximize a long-term impact on Russia and to minimize the impact on the United States and our allies.' 'Putin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war. And now he and his country will bear the consequences,' Biden said. Moments after Biden finished speaking, the Pentagon announced that an additional 7,000 U.S. troops would be deployed to Europe to shore up NATO's defenses. Details: Sberbank — which is Russia's largest financial institution and holds nearly one-third of the overall Russian banking sector's assets — will be cut off from the U.S. financial system. 'Full-blocking' sanctions will be imposed on four additional Russian banks, freezing the U.S.-based assets of VTB, Bank Otkritie, Sovcombank OJSC, Novikombank and 34 subsidiaries. New debt restrictions will be imposed on 13 Russian state-owned enterprises and entities that together hold nearly $1.4 trillion in assets: Sberbank, AlfaBank, Credit Bank of Moscow, Gazprombank, Russian Agricultural Bank, Gazprom, Gazprom Neft, Transneft, Rostelecom, RusHydro, Alrosa, Sovcomflot, and Russian Railways. The U.S. will impose sweeping export controls on technologies critical to the Russian defense sector and broader economy, including semiconductors, telecommunication, encryption security, lasers, sensors, navigation, avionics and maritime technologies. Seven Russian elites and their family members who hold 'some of the highest position of powers in the country' will also be sanctioned. Zoom out: The European Union, Australia, Japan, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom plan similar actions, acting as a 'force multiplier,' according to the White House. Between the lines: Biden did not announce that Russia would be disconnected from SWIFT, which is akin to the central nervous system for international financial transactions. SWIFT sanctions were viewed as among the harshest under consideration, but some European allies feared that disconnecting Russian would cause collateral economic damage. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted earlier Thursday: 'Everyone who now doubts whether Russia should be banned from SWIFT has to understand that the blood of innocent Ukrainian men, women and children will be on their hands too.' Pressed by a reporter, Biden said cutting Russia off from SWIFT is 'always an option' but 'right now that's not the position that the rest of Europe wishes to take.' The big picture: Biden said there is 'a complete rupture right now in U.S. and Russia relations,' and that sanctioning Putin himself remains on the table. What he's saying: 'The Russian military has begun a brutal assault on the people of Ukraine without provocation, without justification, without necessity. This is a pre-meditated attack. Vladimir Putin has been planning this for months, as we've been saying all along,' Biden said. Biden emphasized that U.S. forces 'are not and will not be engaged in a conflict with Russia in Ukraine, and our forces are not going to Europe to fight in Ukraine but to reassure those allies in the east.' 'This aggression cannot go unanswered and if it did the consequences for America would be much worse. America stands up to bullies. We stand up to freedom.' Go deeper: Ukraine-Russia crisis latest developments Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional details throughout.
SITE COUNT Amazing and shiny stats
Copyright © 2005-2021 Peter Burgess. All rights reserved. This material may only be used for limited low profit purposes: e.g. socio-enviro-economic performance analysis, education and training.