President Joe Biden lamented and condemned that Vladimir Putin has decided to attack Ukraine, for which he and his country will now face severe consequences, starting economically, after agreements with NATO and leaders of the G7.
“Putin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war. Now he and his country will bear the consequences,” Biden said in statements at the White House, where he warned that the economic consequences will be devastating.
Although the president announced military support for Ukraine, through of NATO, pointed out that the US Army will not have direct confrontations with the Russians.
“Our forces are not and will not be involved in the conflict with Russia in Ukraine, our forces are not going to Europe to fight in Ukraine, but to defend our NATO allies and reassure those allies in the East,” he said. “As I made very clear, the United States will defend every inch of NATO territory with the full force of American power.”
The president recalled the $650 millions of dollars that the US has released to support Ukraine, a country led by Volodymyr Zelensky, something that Vice President Kamala Harris highlighted recently in Munich, Germany, in addition to a $1 line of credit, 000 millions of dollars.
He added that the US supports NATO’s Article 5, which indicates that if an ally is attacked “it is an attack on all allies” and that would imply a coordinated action. That position had been advanced by the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, after speaking with the secretary general of the organization, Jens Stoltenberg, on Wednesday night.
What are the sanctions
The details of the sanctions are yet to be known to Russia, but President Biden affirmed that he seeks to prevent the Putin regime from being able to do business in “dollars, euros, pounds and yen”, he affirmed, “not a penny”.
The objective, added the president, is to stop the ability to finance and allow the growth of the Russian army, in addition to deteriorating Russia’s ability to compete in the high-tech economy.
The Penalties will also impact banks that collectively have about $1,000 million in assets.
“We are also blocking four other major banks. That means that all the assets they have in the United States will be frozen”, he dealt in what means a severe blow to the Russian economy, since Europe will also implement limitations.
Return of the Soviet Union?
For Biden, President Putin is disconnected from the rest of the world and wants to revive the former Soviet Union.
“He has much bigger ambitions than Ukraine,” he said after the Fox News reporter had underestimated the Russian leader. President Biden said no. “ he wants, in fact, to restore the former Soviet Union. That’s what it’s about. And I think his ambitions are completely contrary to where the rest of the world has come.”