Putin’s conflict in Ukraine, Biden slams Russia with broad sanctions

President Joe Biden, vowing to make Russian President Vladimir Putin a “pariah,” announced tough new sanctions on Thursday aimed at cutting off Russia’s largest banks and some oligarchs from much of the global financial system, as well as preventing Russia from importing critical US technology for its defence, aerospace, and maritime industries.

President Joe Biden announced tough new sanctions on Thursday aimed at cutting off Russia’s largest banks and some oligarchs from much of the global financial system, as well as preventing Russia from importing critical US technology for its defence, aerospace, and maritime industries, vowing to make Russian President Vladimir Putin a “pariah.”

The US government’s package is expected to reverberate throughout Russian businesses and households, where fear of Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has already begun to rise. The stock market in the United States dropped more than 30% on Thursday, wiping off a significant amount of wealth.

The two largest Russian financial institutions, which together account for more than half of the country’s banking assets, are among the targets of the latest US sanctions.

Officials in the United States are also prohibiting the shipment of critical US technology to Russia, which might endanger the country’s businesses. Furthermore, the US will restrict the ability of 13 key Russian corporations, including Gazprom, the state-owned energy conglomerate, to use Western finance markets. It also punishes Putin’s close relatives.

The sanctions against the banking monoliths may produce immediate economic problems in Russia, but analysts believe they will be manageable in the long run. On the other hand, technical constraints may limit the ability of certain Russian businesses to stay up.

“Putin chose this conflict, and now he and his people must suffer the consequences,” Biden said from the White House’s East Room. “This will come at a high cost to the Russian economy, both now and in the future.”

It was the second round of US sanctions against Russia this week, following a smaller tranche announced by Biden on Tuesday in response to Putin’s government’s recognition of two Russia-backed separatist enclaves in eastern Ukraine as independent entities.

It was accompanied by several other countries’ sanctions, which were announced on Thursday. Britain approved penalties that were generally similar to those imposed by the United States, with the addition of a ban on Aeroflot, a Russian airline, from operating on British soil. The European Union has announced a series of measures, including a restriction on significant bank deposits in the bloc and a halt to major technology exports, including semiconductors, to Russia. Various sanctions were also announced by Japan and Australia.

In the days and weeks ahead, one concern will be whether the US and its European partners can remain in lockstep on Russia’s conduct, as they claim. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Josep Borrell Fontelles, the European Union’s top diplomat, on Wednesday and Thursday, indicating the strong attempts to coordinate a joint response.

Some of the stronger restrictions that US officials had hinted they were considering are included in the current sanctions package from Washington. The question of whether restricting the operations of Russia’s largest banks and other significant corporations would cause too much pain to ordinary Russians and people of other nations had been disputed.

Russia’s economy is worth $1.5 trillion, making it the world’s 11th largest. At the start of the third year of the epidemic, the global economy remains fragile, and many governments are dealing with the greatest inflation rates in decades. Because of Putin’s activities, the price of crude oil has been increasing this week.

“I understand that this is difficult, and that Americans are already suffering,” Biden remarked on Thursday. “I will do everything I can to alleviate the suffering that the American people are experiencing at the gas pump.” This is extremely important to me.

He did emphasise, however, that Putin’s aggression could not continue unchallenged. “If it did,” he continued, “the repercussions for America would be far greater.” “America stands firm against bullies.” We fight for liberty. “We are who we are.”

The sanctions would “translate into greater inflation, higher interest rates, reduced purchasing power, lower investment, lower productive capacity, poorer growth, and lower living standards in Russia,” according to Daleep Singh, the deputy national security adviser for international eeconomics.

On Thursday evening, European Union leaders met in Brussels to discuss the details of proposed sanctions, which they claimed would hit Russia’s economy badly.

Despite requests from Poland, the Netherlands, and the Baltic States to take a hard line, papers seen by The New York Times indicated that the bloc, which has close financial links to Russia and shares borders with Ukraine, would likely defer numerous difficult decisions.

“Enough already with the cheap talk,” said Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, whose country has already taken in Ukrainian refugees escaping the conflict. “As Europe, as the European Union, we’re buying a lot of Russian gas and oil.” And we, the Europeans, are being fleeced by President Putin. And he’s using that to his advantage.”

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