US President Joe Biden vowed on Friday to avoid a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia that “leads to World War III,” at a time when he announced that his country would ban the export of luxury products to Russia.
“We will not go to war with Russia in Ukraine,” Biden said, Friday, in a speech at the White House, warning that Russia would “pay a heavy price if it used chemical weapons” in Ukraine.
Westerners are concerned regarding the possibility of Moscow using chemical weapons in Ukraine, while Moscow accuses Washington and Kiev of setting up laboratories in Ukraine aimed at producing biological weapons, which the two capitals deny.
The UN Security Council will hold a meeting in this regard, on Friday followingnoon.
Watch live as I announce actions to continue to hold Russia accountable for its unprovoked and unjustified war on Ukraine. https://t.co/Z7dw6HcXjC
President Biden (@POTUS) March 11, 2022
The Americans say they suspect the Russians are spreading “lies” to “accuse others of what they are planning to do”.
“We will make sure that Ukraine has weapons to defend itself once morest Russian invaders,” Biden added, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky regretted Washington’s refusal to hand over Polish fighters to Kyiv.
The US President indicated that the United States provided anti-tank weapons and defense systems capable of shooting down planes and helicopters.
“We will not go to war once morest Russia in Ukraine, but we know that Vladimir Putin’s war once morest Ukraine will not be a victory” for the Russian president, he said.
The totality of our sanctions is crushing the Russian economy.
The ruble has lost more than half its value.
The list of private businesses leaving Russia is growing by the day.
President Biden (@POTUS) March 11, 2022
On the other hand, he stressed that Washington “will not allow those who dream of becoming emperors to control the world.”
He vowed to “receive Ukrainian refugees” in the United States “with open arms,” without providing further details.
In addition, Biden announced that the United States and its allies had decided to exclude Russia from the reciprocal trade system applicable in global trade, paving the way for the imposition of punitive tariffs in response to the invasion of Ukraine, and said, “We will reduce Russia’s trade status.”
The totality of our sanctions is crushing the Russian economy.
The ruble has lost more than half its value.
The list of private businesses leaving Russia is growing by the day.
President Biden (@POTUS) March 11, 2022
In this context, he revealed that the financial situation in Russia has become very bad and more companies are leaving Russia every day. “We are escalating pressure on Russian billionaires from the class surrounding Putin,” he said.
He also clarified that the G7 would deprive Russia of borrowing from international institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Later today, together with the other nations of the G7 and the EU, we will jointly announce several new steps to squeeze Putin and to hold him accountable for his aggression once morest Ukraine.
I want to speak to a few key points.
President Biden (@POTUS) March 11, 2022
Biden revealed that there is a consensus in the United States regarding dealing with Russia, saying, “Standing with democracy and confronting Russian aggression is not a position of disagreement within America.”
And Democratic and Republican members of Congress have previously announced their support for stopping normal trade relations with Russia.
The principle of reciprocity and non-discrimination currently prevails in the majority of trade relations between countries.
Depriving Russia of this status would allow its trading partners to impose higher tariffs on Russia in the form of sanctions on Russian exports.
While we’re going following their superyachts and vacation homes that are worth hundreds of millions of dollars, we’re also going to make it harder for them to buy the high-end products manufactured in our countries.
We’re banning the export of luxury goods to Russia.
President Biden (@POTUS) March 11, 2022
Detailing this, Biden said, “We are taking additional measures to ban key sectors of the Russian economy, especially marine products, vodka and precious stones.”
In parallel with Biden’s speech, the US Department of Commerce announced a ban on the export of luxury products to Russia and Belarus.
“We will not allow Vladimir Putin and his friends to continue living in opulence while causing tremendous pain in all of Eastern Europe,” Trade Minister Gina Raimondo said in a statement.
The ban also targets Russian and Belarusian financiers who reside abroad and have provided “their assistance to Putin”.
The ministry clarified that these are on the blacklist of the US Treasury.
“Today’s action should remind Putin and his Russian and Belarusian friends that the world strongly condemns the atrocities they are committing,” she added.
Washington decided to target Russian and Belarusian figures considered “a window” to prevent them from providing “support for what the Russian government is doing in Ukraine.”
While we’re going following their superyachts and vacation homes that are worth hundreds of millions of dollars, we’re also going to make it harder for them to buy the high-end products manufactured in our countries.
We’re banning the export of luxury goods to Russia.
President Biden (@POTUS) March 11, 2022
Among the American luxury products covered by the sanctions are alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, clothing, jewelry, cars and antiques.
The Ministry of Commerce pointed out that this measure related to luxury products was applied only to North Korea.
