The United States and its allies are stepping up the pressure on Russia, warning the country faces “the mother of all sanctions” in the standoff over Ukraine and vowing to confront Moscow publicly at the United Nations on Monday.
The double salvo of diplomatic and economic pressure came as the West looked to ward off a potential Russian invasion of its neighbor. Ukraine says the Kremlin has now massed 130,000 troops on its border; Moscow has denied planning any attack but issued bold security demands to the U.S. and NATO.
As they awaited Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s next move after their response to those demands last week, Washington and its European allies sought to put Moscow on the back foot.
Jan. 31, 202204:27
U.S. lawmakers said Sunday they were nearing agreement on a package that amounted to “the mother of all sanctions” against the Kremlin.
Senator Bob Menendez, D- N.J., the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the measures would include “massive sanctions” against Russia’s biggest banks as well as sanctions on its sovereign debt and more “lethal” assistance to Ukraine.
“These are sanctions beyond any that we have ever levied before. And I think that that sends a very clear message,” Menendez said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
He said they hoped to move forward on the bill soon, saying he “would describe it as that we are on the one-yard line.”
Some of the sanctions in the bill could take effect before any invasion because of what Russia has already done, Menendez added, including cyber attacks on Ukraine and efforts to undermine the Ukrainian government internally.
Meanwhile, Britain said Monday it will impose sanctions on companies and people with the closest links to the Kremlin if Russia attacks Ukraine.
It comes after criticism that London, which became a hub for money from the region after the collapse of the Soviet Union, has been reluctant to take action against wealthy Russians with Kremlin links.
The U.K.’s foreign secretary, Liz Truss, said the government will introduce new legislation on the matter this week. “Any company of interest to the Kremlin and the regime in Russia would be able to be targeted so there will be nowhere to hide for Putin’s oligarchs, for Russian companies involved in propping up the Russian state,” she told Sky News on Sunday.
In response, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the threat of sanctions would amount to an attack on Russian businesses but would also backfire by hurting British companies.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
