Biden Boldly Stands Up To Putin Like Trump Never Would

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Caleb Newton
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In office, then-President Donald Trump called for Russian President Vladimir Putin to be brought back in to the G7 group of world leaders, which had been the G8 — and from which Russia had been pushed out specifically because of aggression towards Ukraine. Republicans who have lately been acting as though they’re in a position to credibly speak about standing up to Putin seem to forget that! Now, the Financial Times has reported that U.S. officials have “drawn up sanctions targeting Vladimir Putin’s inner circle and its ties to the west as Washington broadens the list of financial penalties it and European allies will impose if Russia invades Ukraine.” Russian authorities have recently amassed a substantial military presence around the border with Ukraine, raising serious fears of imminent military action by Russia against the country.

According to the Financial Times, U.S. officials said regarding the list that’s been under development showing targets for potential sanctions that “individuals we’ve identified are at or near the inner circle of the Kremlin and play a role in government decision-making or are at a minimum complicit in the Kremlin’s destabilizing behavior.” In other words, it would be high-ranking individuals among Russian elites who’d be hit with the potentially debilitating financial penalties. Officials said, again per the Financial Times, that the potential targets who’d been identified were “particularly vulnerable targets because of their deep financial ties with the West,” adding: “Sanctions would cut them off from the international financial system and ensure that they and their family members will no longer be able to enjoy the perks of parking their money in the West and attending elite Western universities.”

The New York Times specifically credited at least some of those remarks to Biden administration press secretary Jen Psaki. Sanctions targeting other segments of the Russian economy have also been under consideration as the West prepares for the possibility of needing to respond to further Russian aggression. Those other retaliatory moves might include “cutting off Russia’s largest banks from conducting financial transactions; restricting the export of key technologies needed by major Russian manufacturers, including arms suppliers; and limiting access to consumer goods, especially those containing American-made or American-designed microelectronics,” the Times explains.

Recently, meanwhile, President Joe Biden revealed to reporters that he would “be moving U.S. troops to Eastern Europe and the NATO countries in the near term,” although he indicated that “not a lot” of military personnel would be moved. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley has separately added that the United States is “ready, capable and prepared to uphold our obligation under treaty to NATO,” adding: “An attack against one NATO ally [like Ukraine] is an attack against all.” Concurrently, U.S. interests have been pushing for a diplomatic resolution to the stand-off, although the Russian response to Western pushes for that resolution is still coming together. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov indicated last week that he expected to meet again with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the near future, within a couple of weeks.



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