WASHINGTON – With Russia bearing down on Ukraine, the United States of America has followed through on a threat to do something about it.
On Feb. 22, President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. and fellow Western nations were levying strong sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. The news comes as the Russian Parliament gave their President Putin “permission” to advance the military outside of Russia, and declaring parts of Ukraine as “independent states.”
The sanctions handed down are only the first in a potential wave of penalties against the former U.S.S.R. This round, called a “tranche,” is focused on two Russian financial institutions – one of which is heavily involved in funding Russia’s military – and Russian sovereign debt, which means that the country can no longer raise money from Western nations and cannot trade debt in U.S. and European markets. Also, sanctions are being imposed on Russian elites, commonly known as “oligarchs,” and their family members.
“This is the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine… If Russia goes further with this invasion, we stand prepared to go further as with sanctions,” said Biden at a press conference.
“Yesterday (Feb. 21), the world heard clearly the full extent of Vladimir Putin’s twisted rewrite of history… As I said last week, defending freedom will have costs for us as well and here at home. We need to be honest about that. But as we do this, I’m going to take robust action to make sure the pain of our sanctions is targeted at (the) Russian economy, not ours.
“We’re closely monitoring energy supplies for any disruption. We’re executing a plan in coordination with major oil-producing consumers and producers toward a collective investment to secure stability in global energy supplies. This will blunt gas prices.”
Biden and other leaders are still open to diplomatic avenues to resolve the matter. Meanwhile, in support of the sanctions, Germany has stopped all activity on the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline that would have helped Russia bring in a bounty of money by providing natural gas to Western Europe. All 27 European Union member states agreed to the sanctions, providing even more punch.
Of course, for every action, there is a reaction, and Russia is more than capable of retaliation.
“In addition to higher prices at the pump, it is not a matter of if, but surely when, the U.S. and/or other Western allies are subjected to Russian cyberattacks,” said “Local Talk” Content Editor Kristopher Seals.
