Biden says ‘major war crimes’ uncovered in Ukraine warrant sanctions

US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that “major war crimes” are being uncovered in Ukraine as Russian forces withdraw from the outskirts of Kiev, citing scenes of brutal, cold-blooded executions as justification for increasing US sanctions on Moscow.

“Responsible nations must come together to hold these perpetrators accountable,” Biden told a union crowd in Washington after the White House announced new sanctions on Russia’s biggest financial institutions and individuals linked to the Kremlin, including his two adult daughters. of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“We will continue to increase the economic cost and increase the pain for Putin and further increase Russia’s economic isolation,” Biden said, condemning Russia’s intentional attack on civilians and announcing a united Western response, even as he acknowledged the battle was still ongoing. .

Horrific images of the Ukrainian city of Bucha conveyed “a sense of brutality and inhumanity left for all the world to see, without apology,” Biden said in his remarks as he announced new measures the US is taking to punish those responsible.

The sanctions are designed to tighten the grip on Russia’s economy, which has already been crippled by Western punishments. Still, increasingly harsh consequences for the invasion of Ukraine do not seem to force Putin to ease a brutal campaign that is increasingly targeting civilians.

Biden has previously said he believes Putin is a war criminal, and this week he called for a trial to hold Moscow accountable. The process for prosecuting war crimes, however, is complex and time-consuming, and questions remain about how and when such accountability can be done.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Wednesday that the Justice Department is assisting in gathering evidence for possible war crimes prosecutions related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said he has spoken with French and other European officials about the evidence collection currently underway.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday that the US was “working to document” war crimes with the aim of providing the information to relevant agencies.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan also said this week that the US will seek information from intelligence services, Ukrainian eyewitnesses, international organizations and global media interviews to build a case.

Biden also praised Ukraine for sustaining a fight against Russia that prevented it from taking the country’s capital.

“Thanks to the bravery, courage and fighting spirit of the Ukrainian people, Russia has already failed in its initial war goals. Russia wanted to take Ukraine’s capital, Kiev, and overthrow its democracy and elected government.”

However, Biden warned that the violence may not end anytime soon.

“The fight is far from over,” he said. “This war can go on for a long time.”

Restrictions on Russian banks

The “full lockdown” sanctions against Russia’s biggest financial institution, Sberbank, and its biggest private bank, Alfa Bank, are expected to further cripple Russia’s economy. They will ban transactions with any US financial institutions and freeze assets held by US banks.

“They won’t be able to touch any of your money. They won’t be able to do any business here,” Biden said.

Sberbank holds nearly one-third of Russia’s banking sector’s total assets, and the White House says that with the new sanctions, more than two-thirds of Russian banking is now locked down.

“The sad reality is that Putin’s war will make it harder for Russians to travel abroad. That means your debit cards might not work. They can only have the option to buy fake phones and clothes, store shelves can be empty,” a senior government official told reporters.

“The reality is that the country is slipping into economic, financial and technological isolation and, at this rate, will return to the Soviet-style patterns of the 1980s,” the official continued.

Putin’s daughters in the crosshairs of sanctions

By sanctioning Putin’s two adult daughters, the US hopes to freeze any assets the Russian president may be hiding with them, according to the senior administration official.

Without detailing what Putin’s assets may be hiding with Mariya Putina and Katerina Tikhonova, the official said the practice is common among the Russian elite.

Members of Russia’s Security Council, including former Russian President and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, are also being targeted by individual sanctions.

The US has already sanctioned more than 140 oligarchs and their families, as well as more than 400 Russian government officials, the senior official said.

“Look, these oligarchs and their families are not allowed to keep their riches in Europe and the United States and keep these yachts worth hundreds of millions of dollars, their luxury vacation homes while children in Ukraine are being killed, displaced from their homes. homes every day,” Biden said in his speech.

The new sanctions will cut these individuals out of the US banking system and freeze any assets held in the US.

The White House also announced a ban on new investments in Russia that will be carried out in alignment with the G7 and the European Union. The ban will be implemented with an executive order signed by President Joe Biden.

The US will also apply full lockdown sanctions to major Russian state-owned companies, which will be announced by the Treasury Department next Thursday.

While the US and its allies have imposed the most comprehensive sanctions regime in history against a country the size of Russia, officials acknowledge it has done little to change Putin’s calculus.

The threat of sanctions did not stop the invasion itself, and the piling up of economic penalties has not brought Russia closer to a withdrawal or a negotiated settlement since.

Pressed on the effectiveness of sanctions to end Putin’s war in Ukraine, the top US administration official sought to emphasize the effect they are having on life in Russia and said Putin would eventually have to rely on his people.

“Even an autocrat like Putin has a social contract with the Russian people, he took away their freedom in exchange for promising stability, so he’s not giving them stability,” the official said.

“The question really isn’t so much: what can we do and when will it take effect? I think it’s: what’s the endgame here for Putin? What is he playing for?” he said. “This is clearly becoming a failure for him and at some point he will have to acknowledge that reality.”