Washington threatens to punish Putin if he invades Ukraine
A new episode in The Promise and the American Threat was launched by Dalip Singh, the White House Deputy National Security Advisor for the International Economy. The US official threatened Russia with sanctions that would turn it into a “pariah” state in the international community, if it invaded Ukraine.
The News Bulletin 247 website quoted Singh as saying: “will become a pariah from the international community”, he said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Singh said: Russia “will cut itself off from international markets, and will have no access to the latest technologies, not even through China”.
Alternatives to Russian energy
Singh noted that the United States is ready if Moscow tries to use its energy resources as a weapon in the face of Western sanctions and a Western military buildup on the Ukrainian border. “We have taken action to coordinate our actions with the largest consumers and producers of energy, in order to ensure continued supply and stability in energy markets”.
U.S. President Joe Biden already threatened about two weeks ago to stop the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline that connects Russia with Germany if Moscow attacks Kiev.
Singh made it clear that the first set of sanctions is unlikely to include measures that would exclude Russia from SWIFT’s interbank trading system.
Biden only misses the occasion and warns of an “imminent Russian invasion” of Ukraine, which his Russian counterpart has repeatedly denied. Biden said during a briefing at the White House on Friday: He was now convinced that Russian President Vladimir Putin had made the decision to invade Ukraine, but at the same time he had confirmed that the area of diplomacy still existed.
CNN quoted Biden as saying: “At this point, I’m convinced he made the decision”, he said, noting that the United States believes Russian forces intend to attack Ukraine “next week” or sooner, and that an attack will target the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.
