RUSSIA (Washington Insider Magazine) – The Russia-Ukraine conflict continues to worsen as Russian sanctions prove to be ineffective against President Putin’s advancement on vulnerable Ukrainian cities. To combat this and challenge President Putin from a financial standpoint, President Biden has announced that he will be joining other members of the EU in sanctioning President Putin directly.
This was announced through Press Secretary Jen Psaki, and she explained that the direct sanctions would expand to cover other members of the Russian security team, as well as the Foreign Minister of Russia, Sergey Lavrov.
There are other considerations currently undergoing analysis in the White House to deter President Putin further, some of which may include travel bans or further economic sanctions and embargos.
Currently, President Biden has been employing sanctions largely against Moscow as a whole and believes that more directive sanctions are the way to go to truly make an impact against President Putin.
This political move is also designed to highlight the U.S.’ ironclad resolve and commitment to NATO and will be done in tandem with efforts from European allies to work to protect Ukraine and its surrounding, at-risk countries. The U.S. has continued to make visible political moves to support NATO-bound countries, most recently by deploying thousands of troops to NATO country borders for defense against President Putin’s efforts if he chooses to broaden the scope of his ruthless attacks on Ukraine.
As this goes on, Ukraine remains a top target of President Putin’s efforts, forcing Ukrainian officials to close the border and impose a travel ban on the men of the country. Officials are continuing to urge citizens to remain and fight against Russian allied forces, deploying bombs, civilian-made Molotov cocktails, and relying on firepower to keep Russian forces at bay.
It will be interesting to see how the personalized sanctions will play out against Putin’s large and enigmatic display of wealth. There is no clear path to actually effectively using these, and it is unclear if the Biden Administration or National Security Administration (NSA)of the United States currently know where his wealth is.
One may argue that President Trump’s aggressive, yet effective approach with President Putin did more to neutralize the leader, as the U.S. currently is making little to no impact on the Russian president’s resolve to further harm, target, and attack the people of Ukraine.
While many Americans view this political stance as a more pacifist, moderate move, Press Secretary Jen Psaki has affirmed that this method of attack would send President Putin a clear message about his actions, and what the U.S. and NATO think of them.
President Putin has been very vocal about his thoughts on NATO’s perception of Russia and of himself, threatening country leaders and U.S. officials with punishments never before seen should they get in the middle of the conflict.
Bearing this in mind, it will be interesting to see how the sanctions play out on the world stage, as President Putin’s key assets and focuses continue to grind to a halt – such as the Nord Stream 2.
