Biden announces sanctions against Russian oligarchs, banks

MOSCOW (AP) — President Joe Biden ordered heavy US financial sanctions against Russian banks and oligarchs on Tuesday, stepping up the West's confrontation with Moscow, even as Russian lawmakers authorised President Vladimir Putin to use military force outside their country.

Biden, in a brief address from the White House, accused Putin of flagrantly violating international law in what he called the “beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine,” and promised that more sanctions would be coming if Putin proceeds further.

The president joined the 27 European Union members who unanimously agreed on Tuesday to levy their own initial set of sanctions targeting Russian officials over their actions in Ukraine.

Germany also announced it was halting the process of certifying the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia — a lucrative deal long sought by Moscow but criticised by the US for increasing Europe's reliance on Russian energy.

“None of us will be fooled” by Putin's claims about Ukraine, the US President said.

Biden said he was also moving additional US troops to the Baltic states on NATO's eastern flank bordering Russia.

The prime minister of Estonia and presidents of Latvia and Lithuania on Friday had made a direct plea to Vice President Kamala Harris for the US to step up its presence in the Baltics.

Biden said the US would impose “full blocking” on two large Russian financial institutions and “comprehensive sanctions” on Russian debt.

“That means we've cut off Russia's government from Western finance,” Biden said. “It can no longer raise money from the West and cannot trade in its new debt on our markets or European markets either.”

The president announced what he called a first tranche of sanctions as Russian troops rolled into rebel-held areas in eastern Ukraine after Putin said he was recognising the areas' independence on Monday. It was unclear how large the Russian deployment was, and Ukraine and its Western allies have long said Russian troops were already fighting in the region, allegations that Moscow always denied.

Members of Russia's upper house, the Federation Council, voted unanimously to allow Putin to use military force outside the country — effectively formalising a Russian military deployment to the rebel regions, where an eight-year conflict has killed nearly 14,000 people.

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