The United States believes that sanctions should be aimed at containing Russia.
According to Sullivan, in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, the United States and its allies are “ready to respond decisively” / photo: REUTERS
The United States is ready to impose “tough economic sanctions against Russia” only in the event of its invasion of Ukraine, but there is no talk of preventive measures yet.
This was announced by national security adviser to US President Joe Biden Jake Sullivan, reports CNBC . .
In the event of a Russian invasion, the US and its allies are “ready to respond decisively” through a range of actions, such as imposing “tough economic sanctions” and changing NATO’s martial law, Sullivan said.
“If Russia continues to act, its long-term power and influence will be reduced, not increased by an invasion,” Sullivan said.
“Russia will face a more determined transatlantic community. It will have to make further concessions to China. It will face massive pressure on its economy and export controls that will undermine its military-industrial base, and it will face a wave of condemnation from around the world,” he added. .
Also, according to Sullivan, US President Biden believes that sanctions should be aimed at containing Russia and plans to introduce them only if Russia begins to invade Ukraine.
“Whatever happens next, the West is more united than ever,” Sullivan said.
Recall, Sullivan also called on US citizens to leave Ukraine within 48 hours. According to him, Russia has concentrated enough forces for a large-scale military operation against Ukraine and can start it any day.
Earlier, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken also said that Russia could launch a new invasion of Ukraine at any time, including during the Winter Olympics.
Blinken noted that Washington continues to reduce the number of staff at the US embassy in Ukraine and reiterated the State Department’s call for all Americans in Ukraine to leave the country immediately.
Earlier, US President Joe Biden also called on all Americans who remain in Ukraine to leave the country due to the threat of a Russian invasion. Also immediately called to leave Ukraine in the US State Department.
(C)UNIAN 2022
Here are some comments made by Telegraph readers today :
Bozidar Zabavnik One difficulty we face in the west is that we are unaware of what is happening or has happened on the border between the Ukraine and Russia. Borders are notorious for being lawless. So the first question to ask does Putin actually want Nato in charge of Ukraine’s border. If he does then he is provoking mission creep for NATO. As the saying goes good fences make good neighboursand at the moment the border is fenceless. Then we come to the Minsk agreement. The Donbass must be costing Russia a lot of money without any benefit. The Donbas is not of any use to Putin but Mariupol is. He needs a warm water seaport and that is what he will trade the rest of the Donbas for. Ideally for him he would want to control the Sea of Azov. So what he would want is a coastal strip to Crimea. The Ukraine could only argue for reparations to repair the Donbass region. However they could trade water for gas since the Crimea is now subject to drought. Putin will argue for a 50 kilometre wide strip but settle for 30. That will allow him to build a motorway and rail track next to the border. The Ukraine will have to mirror that with a motorway. The Ukraine will now ask the EU for help to build six new bridges to the Donbas region. They will get four. That is how I see this spat ending.
Eliot Bliss Putin’s aim in life, apparent for the last 20 years, is to restore the lost territories of the Russian/Soviet empires. The idea that sufficient financial sanctions will be imposed to stop him is implausible. He has the tacit approval of China and can strongarm Germany and so more broadly the EU by cutting the oil supply. In fact we already have Austria and Hungary saying they won’t participate in sanctions anyway. And what will the UK do? Confiscate Chelsea FC lol? When Crimea was taken the West didn’t even have the nerve to sanction Putin himself?
M Bilewycz
Exclusion from the Swift international bank transfer system (as already discussed by NATO) would really play havoc on the Russian economy – and its very high on the options menu.
No international payments in or out of Russia – not a penny or cent or whatever.
The trolls have been blagging about a Russo-Chinese transfer system, but that will be of limited use, and Chinese companies will demand payment in $ or anything but the worthless rouble (which will be worth even less). In the other direction the Chinese will only pay in Renminbi rather than use their forex reserves.
Only weeks ago there were 98 roubles to the £.
Today its 104.56 roubles to the £.
That is a heck of a battering and nothing has started yet…
Putin is making the same mistakes as his predecessors of the USSR, only this time Russia will be embroiled in a savage guerrilla war in Ukraine. That will make Afghanistan and Chechnya look like an afternoon stroll.
As expected, i like the first reply the most. But only to stop a full scale invasion in case we got overwhelmed already. Then it’s better a bird in the hand than birdshit on the head.
“He needs a warm water seaport and that is what he will trade the rest of the Donbas for.”
That would be a positively horrendously bad trade for Ukraine. I think that Ukraine would fight tooth and nail to keep it and rightfully so. Mariupol is far more important than the entire occupied Donbas.
That just continues to bother me terribly that people speak about negotiating and deciding for themselves what should be done with Ukraine. How come I can’t decide what happens with my neighbor’s backyard? The same reason……….
The first reply has a few good points, but the idea of Ukraine trading a good part of Ukraine for a ravaged hellhole is not even questionable. Ukraine can’t go down that road one bit.
“…ready to respond decisively…”
We’ve seen the “decisive” responses by the West since 2014. This is what got us here in the first place. Have any of those Bozos learned from past mistakes? That’s a clear no, they have not. It’s been a vicious circle of aggression on aggression by mafia land and blathering and babbling by the West, sprinkled with a little sanction here and a little sanction there.
Because they know an overactive imagination doesn’t qualify as facts.