U.S. President, Joe Biden, on Thursday, announced new
sanctions on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, saying that Russian leader,
Vladimir Putin “chose this war” and his country would bear the consequences.
The sanctions target Russian banks, oligarchs and high-tech
sectors, Biden said.
The United States and its allies will block assets of four
large Russian banks, impose export controls and sanction oligarchs.
Biden had on Tuesday announced the first tranche of
sanctions on Russia, following its decision to recognise the independence of
certain areas of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
The President announced the sanctions at the White House
while Ukraine’s government reported mounting casualties inflicted by Russian
forces attacking from the east, north and south.
“The sanctions impose severe costs on Russia’s largest
financial institutions and will further isolate Russia from the global
financial system.
“With today’s financial sanctions, we have now targeted all
ten of Russia’s largest financial institutions, including the imposition of
full blocking and correspondent and payable-through account sanctions, and debt
and equity restrictions, on institutions holding nearly 80 percent of Russian
banking sector assets.
“The unprecedented export control measures will cut off more
than half of Russia’s high-tech imports, restricting Russia’s access to vital
technological inputs, atrophying its industrial base, and undercutting Russia’s
strategic ambitions to exert influence on the world stage,’’ he said.
According to him, the impact of those measures would be
significantly magnified due to historical multilateral cooperation with a wide
range of Allies and partners who are mirroring our actions, inhibiting Putin’s
ambition to diversify Russia’s brittle, one-dimensional economy.
“The scale of Putin’s aggression and the threat it poses to
the international order require a resolute response, and we will continue
imposing severe costs if he does not change course,’’ he said.
The U.S. leader said Russia’s economy had already faced
intensified pressure in recent weeks, noting that just today its stock market
sank to its lowest level in four and half years.
With these new stringent measures, he said these pressures
would further accumulate and suppress Russia’s economic growth, increase its
borrowing costs, raise inflation, intensify capital outflows, and erode its
industrial base.
“The United States and our Allies and partners are unified
and will continue to impose costs, forcing Putin to look to other countries
that cannot replicate the financial and technology strengths of Western
markets.’’
He said the U.S. would be deploying additional forces to
Germany to bolster NATO after the invasion of Ukraine, which is not a member of
the defense organisation. Approximately 7,000 additional U.S. troops will be
sent.
Biden said Putin’s threatening actions and now his
unprovoked aggression toward Ukraine were being met with an unprecedented level
of multilateral cooperation.
He said the United States welcomed the commitments by
Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
“They would also take similarly forceful actions to hold
Russia accountable – demonstrating the strength of our partnerships and
deepening the impact on Russia more than any action we could have taken alone.
“This follows our joint action earlier this week to impose a
first tranche of severe sanctions on Russia,’’ he said.
Biden spoke hours after holding a virtual meeting with the
leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Italy and Japan.
European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen,
European Council President Charles Michel, and NATO Secretary General Jens
Stoltenberg also joined the meeting.
The President also met with his national security team in
the White House Situation Room as he looked to flesh out U.S. moves in the
rapidly escalating crisis.
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