Biden announces new sanctions against Russia

Speaking at the White House on Tuesday, Biden said this is the first tranche of sanctions to impose costs on Russia in response to their actions, own Ukrinform correspondent reported.

Biden stressed that “these have been closely coordinated with our Allies and partners,”

The U.S. president called Russia’s recent actions “the beginning of an invasion of Ukraine”.  Therefore, new sanctions against Russia will be much more severe than those enacted in 2014.

“We’re implementing full blocking sanctions on two large Russian financial institutions: V.E.B. and their military bank.  We’re implementing comprehensive sanctions on Russian sovereign debt. That means we’ve cut off Russia’s government from Western financing,” he said.

In addition, the United States will begin to impose restrictions on Russian elites and their family members. Biden also promised that Nord Stream 2 would not move forward due to Russian aggression.

“And if Russia goes further with this invasion, we stand prepared to go further as with sanctions,” Biden said.