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With Russia now conducting a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, US President Joe Biden has continued to impose sanctions on Russia. Biden announced an additional set of sanctions on Russia following the all-out assaults on Ukraine by Russian troops.
Speaking from the White House, Biden announced that the US would impose an additional set of sanctions on Russia targeting a different set of factors. The US leader also called out Russian President Vladimir Putin for his aggression during his announcement.
“Putin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war. And now he and his country will bear the consequences,” said Biden, who noted that some sanctions on Russia might take time to come into effect.
The new sanctions Biden has imposed include export blocks on technology, which the US leader said would limit Russia’s capability of advancing its military and aerospace sector. This follows the other sanctions that targeted not only Russia’s banks but also Russia’s wealthiest with ties to Putin and their family members.
Biden has also not ruled out sanctioning Putin directly but did not say why it has not been done yet. When pressed on what could stop Putin if sanctions would not work, Biden stressed the difference between imposing the sanctions and seeing the effects of the sanctions, saying that Putin will see the effects the sanctions will have on him and on Russia.
The new set of sanctions also targeted individuals from Belarus, including its defense minister, for facilitating the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Biden announced that while more ground and air forces will be deployed to the eastern flank of NATO, he stressed that no US troops would engage in direct conflict in Ukraine.
In other related news, Biden has reached a decision as to who he would nominate for the Supreme Court, according to people familiar with the matter. The announcement may arrive as soon as Friday. The exact details of Biden’s Supreme Court announcement remain undetermined due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and Russia.
However, aides have said that if the announcement does not happen on Friday, it will definitely happen no later than the day before his State of the Union address.
