President Joe Biden outlined a slate of new sanctions against Russia on Thursday, including restrictions on Russian banks and access to Western technology, hours after it mounted a massive invasion of Ukraine.
President Joe Biden delivered remarks about the military invasion of Russia.
The United States will block transactions by four large Russian banks and freeze their U.S. assets, according to Vice President Biden.
The president says the U.S. and its allies will make it harder for Russian state-owned companies to get financing in the U.S. and European markets.
Biden didn't list any names, but he promised sanctions against Russians who have gained personally from the Kremlin's policies.
Biden said that the sanctions were designed to maximize the long-term impact on Russia and to minimize the impact on the United States and our allies.
Several European countries have pledged to sanction Russia. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he will freeze the assets of Russia's second-largest bank, sanction some Russian elites and ban Aeroflot from operating in the United Kingdom. A sweeping set of sanctions is being discussed by the European Union.
Biden did not announce plans to cut Russian banks out of SWIFT, a Belgium-based global network that banks rely on to send payment requests to each other. The new penalties on major Russian banks will be equally consequential, according to Biden. He didn't propose any penalties against the Russian energy companies after administration officials worried about high global energy prices.
Russia began attacking Ukraine early Thursday local time, with shelling reported throughout the country and Russian troops invading through several border crossings. Biden promised to impose sanctions on Russia after the invasion began. The United States imposed sanctions on two Russian banks and several Russian elites after Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the independence of two eastern Ukrainian regions. Biden pledged sanctions against the company that built the Nord Stream 2, a not-yet-operational natural gas line that would connect Germany with Russia. For weeks, the U.S. tried to deter Russia from attacking by threatening a large slate of sanctions, but some experts think Putin is willing to tolerate the cost of any economic penalties.
Russian retaliation. In a speech announcing the invasion, Putin said that any attempts to impede Russia will be met with consequences that are never seen before.
The U.K. banned the Russian Airline.
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