Biden considers personal sanctions for Putin amid Ukraine tensions

Washington: US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday AEDT he would consider personal sanctions on President Vladimir Putin if Russia invades Ukraine, putting the Russian leader in the same league as Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi.

The rare sanctions threat came as NATO places forces on standby and reinforces eastern Europe with more ships and fighter jets in response to Russia’s troop build-up near its border with Ukraine.

Russia denies planning an attack and says the crisis is being driven by NATO and US actions. It is demanding security guarantees from the West, including a promise by NATO never to admit Ukraine. Moscow sees the former Soviet republic as a buffer between Russia and NATO countries.

Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin. Credit: The Age

Following multiple rounds of US-Russia talks over Ukraine that failed to reach a breakthrough, Biden, who has long warned Moscow of economic consequences, upped the ante on Tuesday by saying Putin could personally face sanctions.

If Russia were to move into Ukraine with the estimated 100,000 soldiers it has massed near the border, Biden said it would be the “largest invasion since World War II” and would “change the world”.

Speaking to reporters, Biden was asked if he would see himself imposing sanctions on Putin directly if Russia invaded Ukraine. “Yes,” he responded. “I would see that.”

Direct US sanctions on foreign leaders are rare but not unprecedented. Others who have faced sanctions include Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro, Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi.

On Tuesday, a US plane carrying military equipment and munitions landed in Kyiv, the third instalment of a $US200 million package to shore up Ukraine’s defences.

The Pentagon has put on alert about 8500 US troops in Europe and the United States to be ready to deploy to NATO’s eastern flank if needed.

Russia said it was watching with great concern and accused Washington of fuelling tensions over Ukraine, repeating its line that the crisis was being driven by US and NATO actions rather than by its own build-up of forces near the Ukrainian border.

Biden said on Tuesday he may deploy US troops in the nearer term but ruled out sending unilateral US forces to Ukraine, which is not a NATO member.

“There is not going to be any American forces moving into Ukraine,” he said.

So far, NATO has about 4000 troops in multinational battalions in Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland, backed by tanks, air defences and intelligence and surveillance units.

As Western leaders appeal for unity, differences have emerged among European nations over how best to respond. Putin is due to meet on Wednesday with the heads of some of the biggest companies in Italy, Russia’s fifth biggest trading partner, despite the rising tensions.

A serviceman checks his machinegun in a shelter on the territory controlled by pro-Russian militants in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine.Credit: AP

“It is absolutely vital that... the West is united now, because it is our unity now that will be much more effective in deterring any Russian aggression,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, adding Britain was discussing with the United States the possibility of banning Russia from the SWIFT global payments system.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he would seek clarification over Russia’s intentions in a phone call with Putin set for Saturday AEDT. Political advisers from Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France are due to meet in Paris on Thursday AEDT.

With fears of a new Russian military assault high after its invasion of Crimea in 2014, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged his compatriots on Tuesday to stay calm and said work was underway to bring about a meeting between him and the leaders of Russia, Germany and France.

“There are no rose-coloured glasses, no childish illusions, everything is not simple. ... But there is hope,” Zelensky said in a televised address. “Protect your body from viruses, your brain from lies, your heart from panic.”

Workers in Kyiv unload a shipment of military aid delivered from the United States on Tuesday.Credit: AP

In Washington, senior Biden administration officials said the United States was in talks with major energy-producing countries and companies around the world over a potential diversion of supplies to Europe if Russia invades Ukraine.

The EU depends on Russia for around a third of its gas supplies. Any interruptions to its Russian imports would exacerbate an existing energy crisis caused by shortages.

A Belarusian opposition hacker group said on Monday it had encrypted some of the state railway company’s computer systems to disrupt its operations after it helped transport Russian troops into Belarus.

US lethal aid at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on its way to Ukraine. Credit: AP

The Belarusian Defence Ministry said on Monday that Russian troops were arriving in the Kremlin-aligned country, which borders Ukraine and Russia, ahead of a February training operation, The Washington Post reported.

The self-styled Belarusian Cyber-Partisans, which has claimed responsibility for a number of previous cyber attacks, tweeted that it had encrypted some of the railway service’s servers, databases and workstations.

The US has warned Belarus that it too will face a “swift and decisive response” if it helps Russia invade Ukraine.

“We’ve also made clear to Belarus that if it allows its territory to be used for an attack on Ukraine, it would face a swift and decisive response from the United States and our allies and partners,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters on January 25.

Reuters

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