Biden threatens Putin with personal sanctions over Ukraine

A senior US official laid out economic sanctions ‘with massive consequences’ that go far beyond previous measures.

Ground crew unload weapons and other military hardware delivered by the US at Boryspil Airport near Kiev on Tuesday night. Picture: Getty Images

The US has warned Moscow of damaging sanctions, including measures personally targeting Vladimir Putin, if it moves ahead with an invasion of Ukraine, as Russian combat troops massing around the pro-Western country launched new exercises.

Tension was increasing, with the White House saying on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT) the risk of a Russian invasion of Ukraine “remains imminent”.

Warning that such a move would prompt “enormous consequences” and even “change the world”, President Joe Biden said he would consider adding direct sanctions on Mr Putin to a raft of measures being drawn up.

“Yes, I would see that,” Mr Biden said when asked in Washington about targeting the Russian President, whom opponents have long accused of holding gigantic, secret wealth.

A senior US official laid out economic sanctions “with massive consequences” that go far beyond measures implemented in 2014 after Russia invaded Ukraine’s Crimea region.

New measures would include restrictions on exports of hi-tech US equipment in the artificial ­intelligence, quantum computing and aerospace sectors, the official said. “What we’re talking about are sophisticated technologies that we design and produce,” and cutting them off would hit Mr Putin’s “strategic ambitions to ­industrialise his economy quite hard”, the official said.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson echoed the threat, saying sanctions would be “heavier than anything we’ve ever done”.

The Kremlin said imposing sanctions on Mr Putin would be counterproductive in efforts to ease tensions. “Politically, it’s not painful, it’s destructive,” Mr Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said. He added that high-ranking Russian officials were barred from holding assets abroad so imposing personal sanctions would have no effect.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he would talk by telephone with Mr Putin on Friday, seeking “clarification” on Moscow’s intentions.

A day after Washington said it was putting 8500 US troops on alert for possible deployment to bolster NATO forces in Europe, the Russian military announced it was conducting new drills involving 6000 troops near Ukraine and on the Crimea peninsula.

The drills included firing exercises with fighter jets, bombers, anti-aircraft systems and ships from the Black Sea and Capsian fleets, the defence ministry said.

Vladimir Putin beams good will on Tuesday night. Picture: AFP

According to Western officials, the Kremlin has already deployed more than 100,000 troops on Ukraine’s borders, with reinforcements arriving from all over Russia. “We continue to watch the accumulation of significant combat power,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.

Washington also warned Russia ally Belarus that its authoritarian government would “face a swift and decisive response” if it helps Moscow invade Ukraine. “If an ­invasion were to proceed from ­Belarus, if Russian troops were to permanently station on their territory, NATO could well have to reassess our own force posture in the countries that border Belarus,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

The US and its EU allies accuse Russia of seeking to up-end European stability by threatening an invasion of Ukraine, a former Soviet republic striving to join NATO and other Western institutions.

Moscow denies plans to invade the country, where in addition to seizing Crimea, it backs separatist forces in the east. Russia instead blames the West for the tension and has put forward a list of demands, including a guarantee that Ukraine never join NATO and that NATO forces already in the former Soviet bloc pull back.

The senior US official said contingency plans were being drawn up to get Europe through the winter in case Russia moves to squeeze energy supplies.

The White House announced on Tuesday that Mr Biden would meet with the emir of gas-rich Qatar, Sheik Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, on January 31 to discuss, among other issues, “ensuring the stability of global energy supplies”. Washington and its European allies are scouring global markets for alternative energy sources, even as Europe already struggles with soaring mid-winter energy prices.

“If Russia decides to weaponise its supply of natural gas or crude oil, it wouldn’t be without consequences to the Russian economy,” the US official said.

Although the EU sources about 40 per cent of its supply from Russia, Moscow also relies heavily on sales of energy, meaning “it’s an ­interdependency”, the official said.

Negotiations this month have failed to ease tensions, though Washington and Moscow have agreed to keep talking.

Washington has promised written answers to Moscow’s ­demands this week, while already making clear that it rejects giving Russia a veto on Ukraine joining NATO.

But the crisis has laid bare divisions in the West. The new government in Germany has faced criticism from Kiev over its refusal to send defensive weapons to Ukraine, as well as hesitating over one of the harshest economic sanctions under discussion – cutting Moscow from the global SWIFT payments system.

Ukraine’s military is heavily outgunned by Russia, and Mr Biden repeated has said he has “no intention of putting American forces or NATO forces in Ukraine”.

However, the US has stepped up deliveries of weapons. At a ceremony for the latest shipment ­arriving in Kiev, US charge d’affaires Kristina Kvien said “our preference is diplomacy”. But in case of attack by Russia, “the Kremlin will face fierce resistance, the losses to Russia will be heavy”.

AFP