US Senator Rubio presented a new draft of sanctions against the Russian Federation | News from Germany about Russia

U.S. Republican Senator Marco Rubio on Friday, January 14, proposed a new draft of sanctions against Moscow, including personally Russian President Vladimir Putin in the event of a Russian attack on Ukraine, according to a message published on the senator’s website.

According to the project, American intelligence will have to provide Congress with a report every 20 days on whether Russia has violated the territorial integrity of Ukraine. If the Russian Federation invades Ukraine, the President of the United States will be obliged to impose sanctions against the Russian authorities within 10 days. In particular, to block “assets and entry visas” to Putin, as well as the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, the Minister of Defense, Russian oligarchs and their families.

In addition, Rubio proposed to impose sanctions against the interbank SWIFT system if it does not stop providing services to Russian banks and companies subject to punitive measures. “I call on my colleagues from the Senate to cooperate in order to approve the bill before it’s too late,” Marco Rubio said. Earlier, on his Twitter page, he wrote: “Now it is almost certain that Putin will try to occupy at least some parts of Ukraine very soon.”

The day before, the Senate rejected a draft sanctions against the Russian Federation, proposed by another Republican senator, Ted Cruz. At the same time, Rubio’s proposal echoes the draft restrictive measures, which was introduced on January 12 by a group of Democratic senators led by Robert Menendez. The “Law on the Protection of the Sovereignty of Ukraine of 2022” also implies the freezing of the American assets of Putin and his inner circle. Similar sanctions are proposed to be imposed against the commanders of various types of Russian troops and other persons whom the White House considers involved in “aggression against Ukraine.”

The White House accused the Russian Federation of preparing a pretext for the invasion

The US administration has accused Russia of preparing a pretext for a possible invasion of Ukraine. “We have information indicating that Russia has already trained a group of agents to conduct a false banner operation in eastern Ukraine,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.

The West and Ukraine have been accusing Russia for months of pulling tens of thousands of troops to the Ukrainian border. They suspect Moscow of preparing for a new invasion of Ukraine. Russia claims that it has no such intentions, and in turn accuses NATO of arming Ukraine and conducting maneuvers near Russian borders.

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Author: Irina Filatova, Vitaly Kropman