The premeditated attack on Ukraine ordered by Russian leader Vladmir Putin will cost his country dearly, both economically and strategically, US president Joe Biden has said as he announced a new range of sanctions.
Mr Biden said the new measures would limit Russia’s ability to do business in dollars, euros, pounds and yen.
This includes a freeze on additional banks and stringent export controls that the White House believes will have a profound impact on Russia’s economy, financial systems and access to cutting edge technology.
The president said the sanctions had been designed to maximise the long-term impact on Russia and to minimise the impact on the United States and its allies.
The new measures include severing the connection between Russia's largest bank, Sherbank, and the US financial system. There will also be "full blocking sanctions" on a number of other leading Russian financial institutions including the second largest, VTB Bank.
However, the new measures will not include cutting Russia off from the international system, known as Swift, that connects financial organisations across the world. The president suggested that such an initiative was not supported by America’s allies. However, he said the new US financial sanctions would have a greater impact.
Mr Biden indicated that the option of imposing sanctions on Mr Putin personally was still on the table but would not happen at this point.
“Putin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war. And now he and his country will bear the consequences,” the president said in a speech at the White House on Thursday.
Nato
Mr Biden said steps would also be taken to protect members of the Nato military alliance in Europe.
He said the United States would defend every inch of Nato territory with the full force of American power but insisted again that the US military was not going to fight Russia in Ukraine.
“There is no doubt that the United States and every Nato ally will meet our Article 5 commitments, which say that an attack on one is an attack on all.”
Mr Biden said the aggression by Russia against Ukraine “cannot go unanswered”.
He said if it did, “the consequences for America would be much worse”.
“America stands up to bullies, we stand up for freedom. This is who we are.”
The president also warned that if Russia engaged in cyberattacks against American companies or critical infrastructure “we are prepared to respond”.
However, he forecast that the next few weeks and months would be hard for the people of Ukraine.
He said it was now a “dangerous moment” for all of Europe.
“This was never about a general security concern on their part. It was always about naked aggression. It was about Putin’s desire for empire by any means necessary, by changing borders by force and by choosing a war without cause.”
Mr Biden painted a stark picture of Mr Putin’s intentions. “He has much larger ambitions than Ukraine. He wants to, in fact, re-establish the former Soviet Union. That’s what this is about,” Mr Biden said.
