“If Russia invades Ukraine – it will see the mother of all sanctions”
Senators on both sides of the political map are already ready to vote for tough measures against the Kremlin, while fears are growing that Russian forces will indeed enter Kiev
Fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine are growing, and the Western world is ready to continue to fight it. Now, Democratic and Republican senators alike are willing to impose very heavy sanctions on the Kremlin to create a deterrent to a possible military parade.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (Photo: Shutterstock)
Senator Bob Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, raised the idea of several punishments that could be imposed immediately, in order to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“There are some sanctions that could be in advance, because of what Russia has already done – cyber attacks on Ukraine, false flag actions, efforts to undermine the Ukrainian government internally,” Menendez told CNN.
In the event of an invasion, Mendez said the Kremlin would face “the mother of sanctions” that would target Russian banks in order to hurt the country’s economy. At the same time, the U.S. will increase its supply of military aid to Ukraine. “These are sanctions beyond anything we have ever imposed in the past,” Mendez claimed.
Senator James Rich, one of the senior Republicans on the Foreign Relations Committee, said a bipartisan group of senators was ready to vote on steps to deter Putin. He said he did not think the Russian president would decide on an invasion of Ukraine, but warned that the US must demonstrate strength and unity in the face of the threat.
“A lot of us believe that if Putin sees weakness, if he sees inability or indecision, he will take advantage of it. I do not think he has made a decision to do that yet,” Rich said. “What Bob and I, and the coalition of bipartisan senators are trying to do, is radiate the determination that we, as Americans, have to radiate power and convince him that it will be a very bad idea, and very painful.”
Russian forces on Crimean island (Photo: AP)
A Pentagon spokesman also expressed a similar position, saying on Sunday that the United States is considering a level of sanctions that would exceed anything Russia has ever seen.
“I think we were very clear with Mr. Putin about the economic consequences that could come, that would hurt the Russian people, if they invaded Ukraine,” John Kirby said. “I think we were very, very clear that we were going to look at sanctions and economic consequences, the like of which we had not seen or considered even in 2014,” Kirban said, referring to the Russian invasion of the Crimean island.
Earlier, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas Greenfield, said the Security Council would confront Russia over its military threat against Ukraine. Because of an impending invasion.
“They know they can not block the convergence, and I expect that with the knowledge of what we are dealing with, that they will indeed make an attempt,” said Thomas Greenfield, who noted Russia’s veto power as one of the permanent council members.
“But the Security Council is united, the voices are united in calling on the Russians to explain themselves. We will enter the room, willing to listen to them, but we will not distract from their propaganda and we will be willing to respond to any misinformation they try to spread during this meeting,” she said.
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