Senator Cotton urges US to impose sanctions on 'all Russian financial institutions'
Republican Senator Tom Cotton, a US foreign policy hawk, has urged the United States to impose sanctions on “all Russian financial institutions,” in response to Moscow’s military actions in Ukraine.
“I know that they say they sanctioned 80% of the banks in Russia,” Cotton told ABC’s This Week on Sunday. “Well, Vladimir Putin controls 100% of the banks in Russia. He can use the other 20% to continue to finance his war machine.”
“It’s time to remove all Russian financial institutions from the international payment system. It’s time to impose sanctions on his oil and gas exports, which he uses as his primary means of financial support,” he added.
The Biden administration has imposed harsh economic and banking sanctions on Russia in response to Russia's military actions in Ukraine.
Biden said the sanctions would limit Russia's ability to do business in dollars, euros, pounds and yen.
Biden claimed that only other alternative to the sanctions would be to start a “Third World War.”
"You have two options. Start a Third World War; go to war with Russia, physically, or to make sure that the country that acts so contrary to international law ends up paying a price for having done it," Biden sarcastically claimed in an interview on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Cotton, during his interview on Sunday, refused to comment on former US President Donald Trump’s repeated praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump on Saturday said American leaders are very "dumb" while President Putin is “smart,” doubling down on his praise for the Russian leader earlier this week.
Trump earlier this week praised Putin and called his actions in Ukraine "genius" and "pretty savvy."
“If you want to know what Donald Trump thinks about Vladimir Putin or any other topic,” Cotton told host on ABC, George Stephanopoulos. “I’d encourage you to invite him on your show. I don’t speak on behalf of other politicians. They can speak for themselves.”
Putin announced on Thursday a “special military operation” in Ukraine’s Donbas region to “defend people” subjected to "genocide" there against government forces, stressing that Moscow has “no plans to occupy Ukrainian territory.”
Biden called the Russian action an "unprovoked and unjustified attack," and the American media described it as the biggest assault on a European state since World War Two assault by Russia.
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