Ukraine: ‘Putin chose this war,’ Biden says, outlining measures US plans against Russian assets
- Washington will freeze all Russian assets in the US, restrict technology exports and sanction the Russian president and the oligarchs who back him
- White House says Biden would be open to a call with China’s President Xi Jinping
In a multipronged assault that started shortly before dawn, Russian forces launched more than 100 missiles at targets that included airfields and ammunition depots across the nation of 44 million people.
“Putin’s aggression against Ukraine will end up costing Russia dearly, economically and strategically. We will make sure that Putin will be a pariah on the international stage.”
03:49
Russia begins attack on Ukraine as US and Nato vow response
Biden said that US allies and partners were more unified than ever in standing up against and countering the “premeditated attack”.
The president declined to say whether his administration was in touch with Beijing on efforts to isolate Russia. “I’m not prepared to comment on that at the moment.”
Shortly after the Russian invasion started, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying appeared to blame Washington for the crisis.
“The US has been increasing tensions and hyping up war for some time,” she said, citing US arms shipments to Ukraine. “As the culprit, the person who started the fire should think about how to put out the fire as soon as possible.”
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Biden imposes stronger sanctions on Russia as invasion of Ukraine advances
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said later on Thursday that this was a “moment for China, for any country, to think about what side of history they want to stand on”.
“That is certainly the case that we would make publicly and privately,” she said, adding that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had already spoken with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi this week. She said Biden would “certainly” be open to speaking with Xi Jinping too, but there was no call scheduled.
In his speech, Biden said that Putin’s real ambition was to recreate the former Soviet Union with the invasion of Ukraine a first step, making it essential that the nations allied against Russia remain firm and unified.
He noted that sanctions and other actions taken by nations representing over half the global economy – including the US, Britain, the 27-member European Union, Japan, Canada and Australia – would take time to bite. But Biden expressed confidence that they would.
‘At least 40 dead’ as Russian invasion of Ukraine continues
“They are profound sanctions. Let’s have a conversation in another month or so to see if they’re working.”
Biden said that given European opposition, the US is not currently denying Russia access to the global system for transferring US dollars known as Swift, short for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication.
“It is always an option,” he said. “But right now, that’s not the position the rest of Europe wishes to take.”
But other steps – including collective allied sanctions announced Thursday on four more Russian banks in addition to the two announced earlier this week – now target more than US$1 trillion in assets, or nearly 80 per cent of those held by the financial institutions, he said.
“We will limit Russia’s ability to do business in dollars, euros, pounds and yen, to be part of the global economy,” he said in a 30-minute speech and news conference at the White House. “We’re going to stop the ability to finance and grow Russia, the Russian.”
Separately, a senior US Defence Department official said that Moscow’s immediate goal is “decapitating the government” of Ukraine and installing a Russian-backed administration in Kyiv, according to Politico.
The Pentagon’s assessment is that the Russian operation is still in its early stages, and not all Russian troops arrayed around Ukraine’s borders have moved in as of Thursday, the official said, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity.
The official would not rule out the redeployment of more US troops inside Europe, or more coming from the US to bolster forces in NATO allies Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, which border Russia and Belarus.
But Biden said that US troops would not be involved in fighting in Ukraine and would only engage if Russian troops moved into territory of a Nato member country.
The allies have also pledged to cut off what is estimated to be over half of the semiconductors and other high-tech imports that Russia needs for its shipbuilding, aerospace, maritime and other strategic industries.
“Russia’s access to cutting-edge US and partner country technology will halt,” said Thea Rozman Kendler, US assistant secretary of Commerce.
In a related move, the US Treasury said it was sanctioning 24 Belarusian individuals, banks, defence and related entities for that country’s support of the Russian invasion. “Treasury continues to disrupt Belarus’s and financial capabilities,” said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, adding that many Russian sanctions would also hurt Belarus given their close ties.
Hua said in Beijing that China-Russia relations are built on the foundation of non-alliance, non-confrontation and “non-targeting of any third party”, unlike democracies. “This differs fundamentally and essentially from the practice of the US, which is ganging up to form small cliques and pursuing bloc politics to create confrontation and division based on ideology,” she added.
In a nod to his declining US poll numbers and rising domestic concern over inflation, Biden said that all efforts would be made to minimize the impact on gas prices, including releasing oil held in US and foreign strategic reserves. He also warned speculators not to exploit the crisis.
Analysts said that higher energy prices were all but inevitable and would benefit Russia, a major producer. On Thursday, Brent crude rose above US$105 a barrel for the first time since 2014 before easing somewhat.
“I know this is hard, and that Americans are already hurting,” Biden said. “But this aggression cannot go unanswered … America stands up to bullies. We stand up for freedom. This is who we are.”
The president framed the allied response to Russia as a contest between democracy and autocracy, sovereignty and subjugation. This echoes the administration’s repeated framing of foreign policy along ideological lines.
“The entire world sees clearly what Putin and his Kremlin allies are really all about,” said Biden. “This was never about a genuine security concern on their part. It was always about naked aggression.”
Additional reporting by Jacob Fromer
