Biden administration prepares sanctions package against Russia in case of invasion of Ukraine: Sources

The administration of US President Joe Biden has reportedly prepared an initial package of sanctions against Russia in case of an invasion against Ukraine, as Washington continues to stoke tension between Moscow and Kiev by hyping a long-claimed imminent attack on the former Soviet state.

The restrictive measures, as three people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday, would only be implemented if Russia invades Ukraine and would bar US financial institutions from processing transactions for major Russian banks. The possible bans aim to hurt the Russian economy by cutting the “correspondent” banking relationships between targeted Russian banks and US banks that enable international payments.

The sources said the Biden administration would also use its most powerful sanctioning tool against certain Russian individuals and companies by placing them on the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, which bans their trade with Americans and freezes their assets on the US soil.

The sources stopped short of naming the financial institutions and individuals set to be targeted by Washington.

Russia warns West of dire consequences of its ‘provocations’ over Ukraine

The Kremlin warns the West against keeping up its daily predictions of a “Russian invasion” of Ukraine.

Peter Harrell, who sits on the White House National Security Council, said in a speech last month that “heavy hitting financial sanctions” were part of a strategy to hurt Russia’s economy. “The goal of the financial sanctions is really to have short term upfront costs on Russia, to trigger capital flight, to trigger inflation, to make the Russian central bank provide bailouts to its banks.”

Washington has over the past month kept accusing Moscow of planning to attack Ukraine by stationing as many as 190,000 troops on and around Ukraine's borders. Russia has rejected the allegations, saying the military build-up is defensive in nature.

Biden very recently said he was "convinced" that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, planned to carry out such an invasion within days, and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned that everything indicated Russia was preparing a "full-fledged attack."

Biden says 'convinced' Putin has decided to invade Ukraine

President Joe Biden repeated his claim Friday that the US had intelligence showing his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin has made up his mind to invade Ukraine.

In a major step to de-escalate, Moscow announced last week that some of the troops deployed in areas bordering Ukraine would return to their bases. It also released footage showing tanks and armored vehicles being loaded onto railway flatcars. The US and its NATO allies, however, claim they have seen no significant withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine's border.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has repeatedly criticized the Western states for stoking tensions and called on them to avoid creating “panic.” Zelenskiy has said the panic-triggering alerts are placing a heavy burden on his country's economy. Zelenskiy’s office issued a statement on Saturday, insisting that the situation in Ukraine's east “remains under full control.”

Putin has warned that the US is deliberately designing a scenario to lure Russia into a war over Ukraine, as the Kremlin has repeatedly reiterated that the expansion of NATO’s military infrastructure in Ukraine constitutes a red line for Moscow and that any future expansion must exclude Ukraine and other former Soviet countries.

The Kremlin has warned the West against keeping up its daily predictions of a “Russian invasion” of Ukraine, saying it might lead to dire consequences.

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