Joe Biden to slap sanctions on Russian politicans

Joe Biden will slap personal sanctions on members of the Russian parliament this week during his trip to Europe.

Rescuers conducting search operations and dismantling debris in Kharkiv. Picture: AFP

Joe Biden will slap personal sanctions on members of the Russian parliament this week during his trip to Europe, as a split has emerges in Europe over whether to agree to US and British demands to impose a fresh ban on buying Russian gas and oil.

Briefing reporters on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT) on the US President’s trip, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Russia had “manifestly failed” to accomplish its three objectives of conquering Ukraine, boosting Russian power and dividing NATO.

“Although Russia may take more territory it will never take the country away from the Ukrainian people,” Mr Sullivan said, warning of “hard days ahead for Ukraine [as] this war will not end easily or rapidly.”

Mr Biden will travel to Brussels on Thursday with Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin to discuss the “next phase of military assistance” for Ukraine, including at an emergency NATO summit and a meeting with the 27 leaders at a special session of the European Union Council.

Separately, Germany and Hungary have insisted they need to keep importing Russian gas – and in the meantime have been paying Russia €700m ($1.03bn) a day for the gas supply — in order to keep their economies functioning.

Nations in Europe rely on Russia for up to 40 per cent of their oil and gas supplies.

“Europe cannot give an impression of fatigue when the war in Ukraine has not ended,” tweeted Lithuanian Foreign Minister ­Gabrielius Landsbergis in a tweet. “We cannot get tired of imposing sanctions.”

A compressor station of the Jagal natural gas pipeline stands near Mallnow, Germany, part of theYamal-Europe pipeline that transports Russian natural gas to Germany. Picture: Getty Images

The Baltic states, which receive nearly 100 per cent of their gas from Russia, are leading the charge to impose a full ban, fearful of the Kremlin’s next steps if Russia succeeds in taking Ukraine.

Earlier this month German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said ­Europe had deliberately exempted energy supplies from Russia from sanctions because the energy for industry and electricity supply could not be secured in any other way at the moment.

This week Hungary, which ­relies heavily on Russian gas, joined Germany’s stand and said it would veto EU sanctions against Russian gas.

“We don’t do this for fun. ­Energy supply is not a philosophical or ideological question, but a physical, mathematical one,” said Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto.

Mr Biden, who last visited ­Europe in October for G20 and ­climate change meetings, will travel to Poland to “engage with US troops who are now helping to defend NATO territory”, Mr Sullivan said, and meet Polish President Andrzej Duda, who Vice-President Kamala Harris met there last week.

Poland has taken a leading role in denouncing the invasion of Ukraine and on Wednesday announced it was expelling 45 Russians. Poland’s Interior Minister, Mariusz Kaminski, said they were “spies pretending to be diplomats”.

Sanctions so far have failed to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop Russia’s ­invasion of Ukraine, and it can’t be determined what effect the action will have on Russian politicians.

A Ukrainian tank in Kyiv on Tuesday. Picture: AFP

The US and its allies have ­imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia as punishment for invading Ukraine, stopping short of any ­direct military support to the former Soviet state.

The upcoming sanctions package, which will reportedly target 300 members of the Russian parliament, according to The Wall Street Journal, come as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine enters its fourth week.

The Duma, while far less powerful than the Russian President, has acquired expanded constitutional responsibilities in recent years, particularly regarding the country’s economic affairs.

It also serves as a link between various segments of the population and the government, relaying grievances and concerns upward, and distributing state ­assistance to the public.

Russian politicians last month passed a direct appeal to Mr Putin to recognise the Russian-controlled separatist states of Donetsk and Luhansk, a move that pre-empted Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

This month a Duma committee approved a law criminalising the distribution of what it said was “false news” about Russia’s military operations against Ukraine.

Mr Sullivan’s comments came a day after the White House warned a cyber attack from Russia on major public infrastructure could be imminent.

“Based on evolving intelligence, Russia may be planning a cyberattack against us,” Mr Biden told a group of top US chief executives on Monday. “And as I’ve said, the magnitude of Russia’s cyber capacity is fairly consequential, and it’s coming.”

He would also work with European allies “on longer-term adjustments to NATO force posture on the eastern flank” and potential US contributions to the humanitarian response.