WASHINGTON, February 22. /TASS/. The United States imposes sanctions on the sovereign debt of the Russian Federation due to the situation around Ukraine. This was stated by US President Joe Biden, speaking on Tuesday at the White House with a speech that was dedicated to the situation around Ukraine.
“We are imposing full blocking sanctions on two large Russian financial institutions – VEB and their military bank,” Biden said, without explaining which financial institution he was talking about in the second case. “We are also imposing comprehensive sanctions on Russian sovereign debt. This means that we are cutting off the Russian government from Western funding,” the American leader said.
According to him, these restrictive measures come into force on Tuesday. Sanctions against “Russian elites and members of their families” will begin on Wednesday and the following days, Biden said.
“Over the past few months, we have been coordinating closely with our NATO allies in Europe and around the world, preparing a response. I said [президенту РФ Владимиру] Putin directly more than a month ago, [что произойдет, если] Russia will take action against Ukraine. Russia took action against Ukraine, no doubt, by declaring independence. So today I am announcing the first tranche of sanctions against Russia in response to its actions. We are adopting these sanctions in coordination with allies and partners and will tighten if Russia escalates,” Biden said.
“While Russia is thinking about its next move, we are preparing ours,” the American president added. “Russia will pay an even higher price if it continues its aggression, including as a result of additional sanctions.”
Invasion of Ukraine
According to him, the Russian Federation launched an invasion of Ukraine. “To put it simply, Russia has just announced that it is cutting a big chunk out of Ukraine,” the American leader said.
“Last night [президент России Владимир] Putin ordered that Russian forces be deployed in these regions. Today he argued that these regions actually have wider borders than the areas he recognized. Thus, he claims vast areas that are currently under the jurisdiction of the Ukrainian government,” the American leader said.
“In my opinion, he created a rationale for taking even more territory by force. And if you listen to his speech last night, and many of you, as I know, listened to him, he creates a rationale for going even further.” Biden believes. “This is the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” he argued.
Preparedness for diplomatic work
The United States remains ready for diplomatic work with Russia, and hopes for the same attitude in Moscow, the US President said. “We are taking a sober look at the challenges we face. However, there is still time to prevent the worst-case scenario from developing. <...>. The United States, its allies and partners remain open to diplomacy, if it is serious,” the American leader said.
Biden argued that Moscow’s decisions on the Donbas demonstrate Russia’s lack of genuine interest in dialogue and its desire to essentially rewrite history. “Yesterday the world clearly heard to what extent [президент России] Vladimir Putin perversely rewrites history <...>“, – the owner of the White House believes. He meant the appeal of the Russian leader to his fellow citizens. “Nothing in <...> Putin’s remarks do not indicate any interest in having a genuine dialogue on European security in 2022. He directly attacked Ukraine’s right to exist, he indirectly threatened territories that used to be part of Russia, including countries that are now prosperous democracies and members of NATO,” Biden said.
According to him, in the current situation, the United States is going to judge Russia by its deeds, not words. “And whatever Russia’s next steps, we are ready to respond with unity, clarity and conviction. <...> I hope that diplomacy is still available,” the head of the American administration added.
The situation in the energy markets
He also said that the United States will closely monitor the situation in the energy markets in connection with the sanctions against the Russian Federation, and are ready to take action. “As we respond, my administration is using every opportunity in our arsenal to protect American businesses and consumers from rising prices,” he said. “As I said last week, protecting freedom will have a price for us as well. We must be honest.” “However, as we do so, I intend to take serious action to ensure that the damage from our sanctions affects the Russian economy, not us.”
“We are closely monitoring energy supplies for [любых возможных] failures, we are implementing a plan to coordinate with major oil producers and oil consumers to jointly invest to ensure stability and global energy supplies,” Biden said.
“This will lead to lower fuel prices. I want to limit the damage that Americans experience at gas stations,” the US president said. “This is critical to me.”
Military presence in Europe
According to him, the United States will strengthen its military presence in Europe to protect the Baltics, but do not intend to fight with the Russian Federation.
“I have authorized the dispatch of additional [военных] US forces and assets already deployed in Europe to strengthen our Baltic allies – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. To be clear, these are entirely defensive steps on our part, we have no intention of fighting Russia,” Biden said.
Stop “Nord Stream – 2”
Biden said that the United States has achieved a halt to the Nord Stream 2 project. “Because of Russia’s actions, we worked together with Germany to ensure that Nord Stream 2, as I promised, would not move forward,” he said.
Earlier on Tuesday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that the German government was stopping the certification of the Nord Stream 2 project after Russia recognized the DPR and LPR. He said that he had asked the Ministry of Economy to revoke a report with an analysis of energy security, which is in the Federal Grid Agency. At the same time, he added that “without this certification, Nord Stream 2 cannot be launched.”
Help to Ukraine
The US President said that Washington will continue to provide military and economic assistance to Kiev.
“He also reaffirmed that the United States will continue to provide Ukraine with security assistance and macroeconomic support. President Biden reaffirmed the readiness of the United States, in close cooperation with our allies and partners, to quickly and decisively respond to any further Russian aggression against Ukraine,” the circulated White House written statement.
The American leader also “confirmed the US commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.” “President Biden briefed Foreign Minister Kuleba on the United States’ reaction to Russia’s decision to recognize the ostensible “independence” of the so-called DNR and LNR regions of Ukraine, including an executive order signed [Байденом] last night and the new sanctions announced today,” the White House added.