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Russia warns against “destructive” sanctions on Putin
8:37 CAT | 26 Jan 2022
A handout photo taken from a handout video made available by the Russian Defence Ministry press service shows servicemen of the 150th motorized rifle division of the Southern Military District performing a live firing exercise from a 120-mm 'Sani' mortar on the training ground in the Krasnodar region, Russia, 26 January 2022. About 3,000 servicemen of the Guards Red Banner Combined Arms Army of the Western Military District (ZVO) have begun combat training at training grounds in the Krasnodar, Voronezh, Belgorod, Bryansk and Smolensk regions. EPA/RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY PRESS SERVICE
Russia countered the US threat of direct sanctions against President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, saying the move against Russian leaders would be ineffective and would hurt efforts to ease tensions on Ukraine.
Officials from France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine have met in Paris in a recent bid to ease the crisis caused by fears that Moscow is preparing to invade its pro-Western neighbors.
The West warned that Russia’s invasion would have serious consequences, and on Tuesday Washington said there could be sanctions to personally target Putin.
In response to the news, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the threat as worthless because high-ranking Russian officials were barred from holding assets abroad.
But such a move would seriously damage Ratchet’s diplomatic attempts to ease tensions on Ukraine, he said.
“Political, it’s not painful, it’s destructive,” Peskov told reporters.
The Kremlin has previously stated that U.S. sanctions targeting Putin personally are similar to crossing the red line, warning that the move could lead to the collapse of bilateral relations. There is.
US President Joe Biden said Tuesday that Russia’s military attack on Ukraine could have “great consequences” and even “change the world.”
High-tech export sanctions
Reflecting Biden’s message, U.S. officials explained potential economic sanctions with “significant consequences” far beyond the measures taken in 2014 after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea region. ..
Officials said the new measures would include restrictions on the export of US high-tech equipment in the areas of artificial intelligence, quantum computing and aerospace.
Separating Russia from these technologies would hurt Putin’s “strategic ambition to industrialize his economy very hard,” officials said.
Russia’s Speaker of the House said Wednesday that Washington’s threat to Putin showed that the United States “wants a loyal Russian president that it can rule over.”
“The United States is not happy with the strong independence of the Russian Federation under President Vladimir Putin,” Vyacheslav Borodin wrote on social media.
Meanwhile, a senior Russian lawmaker called on the Kremlin to arm pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, saying “the Kiev government must be stopped.”
Andrey Turchak, an official of Putin’s United Russia Party, said Russia “must provide” weapons to “stop the military aggression apparently prepared by Kiev.”
During weeks of talks between Russian, US and European diplomats, Western leaders have repeatedly warned of widespread economic measures against Moscow in the event of an attack.
The meeting in Paris on Wednesday will bring together one of Russia’s Deputy Prime Ministers, a senior aide to Ukrainian President Wolodimir Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron and German leader Olav Schortz’s diplomatic advisor.
Washington and Moscow agreed to continue discussions, but negotiations so far have failed to ease tensions.
Russia takes “necessary measures”
Russia said this week that it expects to receive a US written response to Moscow’s widespread security demands last year, which seeks to dramatically limit NATO’s reach and capabilities in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. ..
Russian Foreign Minister Sergeĭ Viklov warns in a speech to lawmakers Wednesday that Moscow will take “all necessary steps” if the West continues its “aggressive policy” due to lack of constructive response. did.
A senior Western diplomat later said NATO was trying to complete the response, saying that many of Russia’s demands were “unacceptable or unrealistic.”
However, diplomats have identified areas where NATO can “address their concerns.”
Meanwhile, Moscow has announced a series of military exercises, including Belarus, saying it will conduct a new exercise on Tuesday involving an army of 6,000 people in the suburbs of Ukraine and in the Crimea region.
The North Fleet said in a statement that Russian warships entered the Barents Sea on Wednesday as part of a separate naval exercise released this month.
The West has accused Russia of uniting an army of about 100,000 along the Ukrainian border.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Wednesday that the number of Russian troops was “insufficient for a full-scale attack” but poses a “direct threat” to Ukraine.
The fear of Russia’s aggression follows Moscow’s merger of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and the capture of two self-proclaimed separatists in eastern Ukraine by pro-Kremlin separatists.
More than 13,000 people have died in the fight between government forces and pro-Russian rebels.
Source: AP
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