new York US President Joe Biden announced further sanctions against Russia this Thursday evening. Four major banks would be cut off from the international financial markets, which together have more than a trillion dollars in assets. Among them is the second largest, the VTB Bank.
“The sanctions would be just as devastating as tanks and ammunition in Ukraine,” said Biden with conviction.
However, the US President refrained from excluding Russian financial institutions from the Swift payment system. The sanctions imposed are “worse” than a Swift ban. Biden also refrained from imposing sanctions on Russia’s energy industry on Thursday. However, he prepared the Americans for further increases in gasoline prices and suggested that Washington could again liquidate strategic oil reserves to compensate for rising oil prices. Gas station prices are an important factor for the congressional elections coming up in November.
Biden advocated patience: “It takes time for the sanctions to take effect,” he said. The US did not assume that the sanctions would stop Putin. “But they will significantly weaken his country, so he will have to make very difficult decisions,” said Biden. Sanctions against Putin personally “are a possibility.” However, he left open why Putin will not be sanctioned on Thursday.
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Biden: “NATO more united and determined than ever”
There was a “complete break” in US-Russia relations. “This is a dangerous moment for Europe,” Biden warned.
He also ordered on Thursday to station more troops in Germany. “Now I authorize the deployment of additional US forces to Germany as part of the NATO response.”
The West is more united than ever before to take action against Russia’s aggression. “The good news is that NATO was more united and determined than ever,” said the US President. There is no doubt that all NATO allies will fulfill their obligations under Article 5, “which states that an attack on one is an attack on all”. There will be another NATO summit on Friday.
Biden also warned Russia against cyberattacks against the United States. If that happens, “we’re ready to respond,” Biden said. The US President would also be presented with options that would allow the US itself to use cyber weapons against Russia. This was reported by the US television network NBC.
These include restricting Internet connections in Russia and disrupting railway switches. That could limit Russia’s ability to send goods to the border with Ukraine. Should Biden choose to do so, it would be the first time the US government has resorted to cyberattacks. However, Charles Kupchan, of the think tank Council on Foreign Relations, warned that such a move could provoke strong countermeasures from Russia.
Biden also sees Russia’s war in Ukraine as just a first step by President Vladimir Putin: “He has much bigger ambitions in Ukraine. He wants to restore the former Soviet Union. That’s what this is about.”
Kupchan believes that Putin overestimated the unity of the West, which could later prove fatal for the Russian president. However, the crisis could last for a while. “We have to prepare for a kind of Cold War 2.0.”
With agency material
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