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The White House studies the sanctions on Moscow, whose announcement is expected in an intervention by Biden
On Monday, as Vladimir Putin sealed the recognition of the independence of two areas in eastern Ukraine and began the troop dispatchthe government of Joe Biden in the United States he resisted talking about “invasion & rdquor ;. Everything has changed in a few hours.
This Tuesday morning one of the leaders of Biden’s national security team, Jon Finer, has used the term publicly for the first time. “We believe that this is, yes, the beginning of an invasion, the last invasion of Ukraine by Russia & rdquor ;, said Finer, who has underlined the term “last & rdquor; and has assured that “Russia has been invading Ukraine since 2014 & rdquor ;, when Crimea was annexed.
Biden speech and sanctions
The accusation of invasion is not trivial. It has been made official shortly before Biden offers this Tuesday at one in the afternoon, the 7:00 p.m. in Spainnail statementsin which you could announce the imposition of sanctions on Moscow. Severe punishments, “like you have never seen“according to his words in his last press conference, they have been repeatedly promised by the president in the event that Russia invaded Ukraine. In that appearance before journalists, however, Biden also caused a storm by questioning what kind of punishments would be imposed if Russia did what he called “minor raid“.
Some members of both the Democratic and Republican Party they are urging Biden to fulfill his toughest promises and impose punishments quickly and forcefully, although there are apparent divisions in leadership of the two formations. The allies europeans and the partners of the NATOwith which Washington has also repeatedly promised a coordinated response, they have already started announcing their sanctions. Germany has suspended certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project while Boris Johnson has imposed limited sanctions on Russian interests in the UK linked to Putin.
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Until Biden speaks, the scope of the sanctions will not be known, which come after the Democrat signed an executive order on Monday that limits trade, financing and investment by Americans in the two independence zones recognized by Russia. The Administration has been debating until the last minute and could save some of the harshest punishments in the holster to try to use them as a threat to try to prevent a larger attack in Ukraine.
This is how Finer has also explained it. “We have always thought about waves of sanctions to be applied over time on response to the steps that Russia takes, not only to the statements what they do & rdquor ;, he said on CNN. “We have always said that we would observe the situation on the ground and we would have a quick and severe response & rdquor ;.