Biden to impose personal sanctions on Putin if Russia invades Ukraine
January 26, 2022, 7:30 am

Biden to impose personal sanctions on Putin if Russia invades Ukraine

Joe Biden-US president-Shutterstock

The BBC reported, US President Joe Biden says he would consider personal sanctions on Vladimir Putin if Russia invades Ukraine.

Mr Biden said there would be "enormous consequences" for the world if Russia made a move on the nation, which sits on its south-western border.

His comments came as other Western leaders repeated warnings that Russia would pay a heavy price for invasion.

Taking questions from reporters, Mr Biden replied "yes" when asked whether he could see himself imposing sanctions on the Russian president personally the event of an invasion.

Vladimir Putin- Image credit: Russian Embassy in India Facebook page

He said such a move across Ukraine's border would mean "enormous consequences worldwide" and could amount to "the largest invasion since World War Two".

Mr Biden added that he would feel obliged to beef up Nato's presence in eastern Europe.

Emmanuel Macron discusses situation in Ukraine with Joe Biden

He said: "We have to make it clear that there's no reason for anyone, any member of Nato, to worry whether... Nato would come to their defence."

But he repeated that there were no plans to send US troops to Ukraine itself.

The BBC said, Russia responded angrily to the remarks and accused the US and NATO of "flooding" Ukraine with weapons and western advisors.

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Moscow's Permanent Mission to the United Nations said in a statement: "There is no explanation for what the American fleet is doing near the Russian coast."

Source: BBC

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Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.