Biden and Putin’s Ukraine crisis gets personal as the U.S. tries to deter Russian invasion
The U.S. has sent the clearest message yet that Russia, its key economic sectors as well as its leader Vladimir Putin, could face the severest sanctions it has ever seen if it invades Ukraine. “The U.S. officials are saying to Putin ‘bring it on, you go into Ukraine we are going to sanction you to hell, and try retaliation via cutting energy supplies to Europe. We are planning for that — we will get Europe thru the winter and you will end up as the loser. The U.S. is trying to help Europe break its energy dependence on Russia”.
Threats of personal sanctions against Putin would be a big step up from previous measures against the Russian state and could see the West target Putin’s wealth and inhibit his travel, although no further details have been revealed. The Kremlin responded to those comments on Wednesday, saying any personal sanctions on Putin would be politically destructive, but not painful.
