Russian government considers the idea of ​​US sanctions against Putin “destructive”

Russia’s government has warned that imposing sanctions on President Vladimir Putin would not hurt him personally but would be “politically destructive” after US President Joe Biden said he would consider such a move in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Biden said Tuesday that personal sanctions on PutinAlthough they are an unusual move, they could be seen as part of a concerted campaign by Washington and its allies to convince Moscow that any new aggression against Ukraine would bring swift and widespread costs.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said US congressmen and senators discussing personal sanctions against Russia’s top leaders ignore the fact that they are legally barred from having assets, property and bank accounts abroad.

Individual sanctions against Putin would be “not painful, (but) politically destructive,” said Peskov, who had previously said they would amount to severing diplomatic relations.

As officials began four-way talks in Paris, Russia held new military exercises on land and at sea and moved more paratroopers and fighters to Belarus, north of Ukraine, for what it describes as joint exercises to be held there next month. .

Ukraine said that RussiaThe US, which has massed tens of thousands of troops near its border but has denied any invasion plans, is trying to spread panic. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the Russian government had not yet mustered enough forces for a large-scale offensive, but that did not mean it could not do so later.

Nearly eight years after Russia seized Crimea and backed separatist fighters in Donbass in eastern Ukraine, the former Soviet republic has become the target of potentially the most dangerous confrontation between East and West since the war. Cold War.

Russia claims the crisis is due to the actions of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the United States, and demands security guarantees from the West, including NATO’s promise never to admit Ukraine. Moscow sees Ukraine as a buffer between Russia and NATO countries.

Western allies have threatened to impose economic sanctions on Moscow if it attacks Ukraine, and Washington has spoken with major countries and energy companies around the world about diverting supplies to Europe in the event of an invasion.

The Interfax news agency quoted the Russian Defense Ministry as saying that a unit of paratroopers was deployed to Belarus on Wednesday, a day after moving artillery forces and marines ahead of joint exercises next month.

He also said that Russia is moving Su-35 fighter jets to Belarus for “Allied Resolve” exercises.

The buildup of Russian forces in Belarus, a close Moscow ally and a former Soviet republic north of Ukraine, creates a new front for possible attack.

The RIA news agency reported that more than 20 Russian ships began exercises in the Black Sea, south of Ukraine.

Separately, Russian artillery forces in the southern Rostov region bordering Ukraine were to conduct target practice on Wednesday as part of a combat readiness inspection of the Southern Military District, the Defense Ministry said.