Biden sanctions Russian oligarchs, banks in Ukraine crisis
over 3 years in Jamaica Observer
MOSCOW (AP) - The East-West face-off over Ukraine escalated dramatically Tuesday, with Russian lawmakers authorising President Vladimir Putin to use military force outside his country and President Joe Biden and European leaders responding by slapping sanctions on Russian oligarchs and banks.Both leaders signalled that an even bigger confrontation could lie ahead. Putin has yet to unleash the force of the 150,000 troops massed on three sides of Ukraine, while Biden held back on the toughest sanctions that could cause economic turmoil for Russia but said they would go ahead if there is further aggression.The measures, accompanied by the repositioning of additional US troops to the Baltic nations on NATO's eastern flank bordering Russia, came as Russian troops rolled into rebel-held areas in eastern Ukraine after Putin said he was recognising the independence of the separatist region in defiance of US and European demands.Speaking at the White House, Biden said the Kremlin had flagrantly violated international law in what he called the "beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine." He warned of more sanctions if Putin went further."We are united in our support of Ukraine," Biden said. "We are united in our opposition to Russian aggression." When it comes to Putin's claims about Ukraine's history and sovereignty, delivered in a wide-ranging, fact-bending speech on Monday, Biden said that "none of us will be fooled."Western nations sought to present a united front, with more than two dozen European Union members unanimously agreeing to levy their own initial set of sanctions against Russian officials. Germany also said it was halting the process of certifying the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia - a lucrative deal long sought by Moscow but criticised by the US for increasing Europe's reliance on Russian energy.The US, meanwhile, moved to cut off Russia's government from Western finance, sanctioning two of its banks and blocking it from trading in its debt on American and European markets.They included hitting civilian leaders in Russia's leadership hierarchy and two Russian banks considered especially close to the Kremlin and Russia's military, with more than $80 billion in assets. That includes freezing all of those bank's assets under U.S. jurisdictions.Biden appeared to hold back some of the broadest and toughest of the financial penalties contemplated by the US, including sanctions that would reinforce the hold that Germany put on any startup of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline; an export ban that would deny Russia US high-tech for its industries and military; and sweeping bans that could cripple Russia's ability to do business with the rest of the world.Biden said he was moving additional US troops to the Baltics. The US is sending about 800 infantry troops and 40 attack aircraft from other locations within Europe, and F-35 strike fighters and AH-64 Apache attack helicopters will shift their locations, according to a defense official.Earlier Tuesday, members of Russia's upper house, the Federation Council, voted unanimously to allow Putin to use military force outside the country - effectively formalising a Russian military deployment to the rebel regions, where an eight-year conflict has killed nearly 14,000 people.Shortly afterward, Putin laid out three conditions to end the crisis that has threatened to plunge Europe back into war, raising the specter of massive casualties, energy shortages across the continent and global economic chaos.Putin said the crisis could be resolved if Kyiv recognises Russia's sovereignty over Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014, renounces its bid to join NATO, and partially demilitarises. The West has decried the annexation of Crimea as a violation of international law and has previously flatly rejected permanently barring Ukraine from NATO.