Washington D.C., Feb 24, 2022 / 16:21 pm (CNA).
U.S. President Joe Biden announced that there will be new sanctions against Russia in an attempt to isolate the country from the larger global economy following its invasion of Ukraine, and that the United States remains committed to the terms of the NATO alliance.
NATO, or the North-Atlantic Treaty Organization, is a military alliance among 30 countries. It was established in 1949.
“Putin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war,” Biden said in a Feb. 24 speech from the White House. “And now he and his country will bear the consequences.”
Those consequences, the president explained, would be “additional strong sanctions and new limitations on what can be exported to Russia.”
“We have purposefully designed these sanctions to maximize the long-term impact on Russia and minimize the impact to the United States,” he added. The United States would be joined in these sanctions by the European Union and that the G7 is in “full and total agreement” with the actions.
The sanctions center largely on Russia’s largest banks and companies, and would restrict technology imports.
The technology sanctions are designed to be a “major hit to Putin’s long-term strategic ambitions,” including the country’s space program and shipbuilding abilities.
In addition to the sanctions, Biden announced that Russian assets in the United States, including funds belonging to the “Russian elites,” would be frozen.
“These are people who personally gain from the Kremlin’s policies,” said Biden. “And they should share in the pain.”
The president was critical of the “staged political theater in Moscow” over the past weeks, saying that it was obvious that Putin was preparing for war with Ukraine.
Biden said that American troops would not be sent to Ukraine, but that additional troops would be sent to NATO states in Eastern Europe. Ukraine is not part of NATO, but many of its border countries are part of the alliance.
After Biden’s speech, it was announced that 7,000 U.S. troops would be sent to Germany.
“America stands up to bullies,” Biden said, adding that “This is who we are.”
Should Russia move into a NATO country, Biden vowed that “the United States will defend every inch of NATO territory with the full force of American power.”
“NATO is more united and more determined than ever,” he said.
Biden also committed the United States to Article 5 of NATO, which states that an attack on one NATO state would be considered to be an attack on all NATO states.
“Tomorrow, NATO will convene a summit,” said the president, which would “affirm our solidarity and map out the next steps we will take.”
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Putin is ruthless and vicious, but he also a formidable man, which is more than you can say about anyone currently holding a position of authority in the West. He sees our rulers for the weak, corrupt, unprincipled and incompetent hacks they are. He quite properly despises them and neither fears nor respects them. They bait him constantly without scaring him. He has finally decided to take decisive action in a brutal manner, confident that his unworthy adversaries are incapable of mounting any effective opposition to his plans.
Finally, in his own distorted way, he actually promotes the best interests of his country and has some concern for the welfare of his own people. North Americans and Western Europeans are governed by people openly at war with their own native populations. Pity the poor people of the Ukraine who are paying a severe price for their government’s decision to cast its lot with dishonorable and hapless “allies”. Their lot may be ours sooner than rather anyone expects. Our enemies realize what a diseased husk the West is and they will surely exploit the situation more as time goes by.