The US and its allies announce more sanctions on Russia, but reserve the heavy artillery

The United States and its allies on Wednesday unveiled further sanctions against Russia over its recognition of two breakaway zones in eastern Ukraine, while making it clear that tougher measures were reserved in the event of a full-scale invasion by the Russian government of Ukraine. Vladimir Putin.

The sanctions of the European Union (EU), which will come into force this Wednesday, will include in a blacklist all the members of the lower house of the Russian Parliament who have voted in favor of the recognition of the breakaway regions of Ukraine, freezing their assets. and prohibiting their travel.

The UK followed the US in announcing new restrictions barring Russia from issuing new bonds on its stock markets.

These steps are in addition to measures announced on Tuesday, such as the suspension of permits for a new Russian gas pipeline by Germany and new US sanctions on Russian banks.

However, none of the announcements so far directly target President Putin himself, nor are they expected to have serious medium-term consequences for Moscow, which has more than $630 billion in international reserves.

Oil prices fell from seven-year highs hit on Tuesday as it became clear that the first round of sanctions is unlikely to disrupt crude supplies. World stocks snapped a four-day losing streak and demand for safe-haven assets eased.

Western countries fear Russia is planning an all-out invasion of Ukraine after Putin announced Monday he was recognizing two small breakaway regions, controlled since 2014 by separatists seen by the West as proxies for Moscow. Putin also signed a decree allowing the deployment of Russian forces there.

Washington has called Russia’s actions the start of a “invasion”, but since the massive military assault they anticipated has not materialized, they have had to calibrate their response.

“If there is a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, even tougher sanctions will be imposed on leading Russian oligarchs and organizations, and Russia’s access to financial markets will be limited.British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss declared.

He announced plans to bar Russia from issuing new foreign debt in London, a move taken years ago by the United States. Moscow said it would respond by issuing any new ruble debt in its country for now.

Some Western leaders have faced criticism at home for their response so far.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was ridiculed in Parliament when he announced the blacklisting of three billionaires who had already been subject to US sanctions for years, and five unknown banks. Leaders say more serious sanctions should be held in reserve as a deterrent.

State of emergency

Putin has up to 190,000 troops near Ukraine’s borders, according to US estimates.

More ominous signs point to a possible war: Moscow announced it had begun evacuating its diplomats from Kiev, while Ukraine declared a 30-day state of emergency and has announced the conscription of men of fighting age.

The Ukrainian military said one soldier had been killed and six wounded in increased attacks by heavy artillery, mortars and Grad rocket systems by pro-Russian separatists in the two breakaway areas over the past 24 hours.

New satellite images showed several troop and equipment deployments in western Russia and more than 100 vehicles at a small airfield in southern Belarus, which borders Ukraine, according to the US company Maxar.

For months, Russia has cast the crisis primarily as a dispute with the West, demanding security guarantees, including a promise never to allow Ukraine to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

But this week’s recognition of the breakaway regions was accompanied by much stronger anti-Ukrainian language, including personally from Putin, raising Western concerns that he may not stop at intervention in the breakaway areas.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock declared that Russia was making a strategic mistake by embarking on a path that would make it a global pariah.

“The action that is being carried out now may follow a short-term strategy, but it is not a medium- or long-term strategy to isolate yourself completely around the world.“, said.