Biden to impose new sanctions on Russia over Ukraine invasion

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced Thursday that the U.S. will impose severe economic sanctions on Russia over what he described as an “unprovoked and unjustified attack” on Ukraine, but he stopped short of barring Moscow from a key global financial system.

Russian President Vladimir Putin “is the aggressor. Putin chose this war. And now he and his country will bear the consequences,” declared Biden from the White House as he disclosed that the U.S. and European allies would sanction five Russian banks holding around $1 trillion in assets and block high-tech exports to the country. “Every asset they have in America will be frozen,” Biden pledged.

Biden also said the administration was sanctioning Russian “elites and their family members,” but not Putin himself, although the U.S. president said that option was still “on the table.”

The announcement came hours after Russia launched an all-out assault on Ukraine, with troops and tanks advancing across the border and Russian missiles and artillery fire hitting strategic installations. Putin ordered the attack despite weeks of diplomacy by the U.S. and its allies that sought to forestall a war Biden said was brought “without provocation, without justification, without necessity.”

The administration in recent days has imposed an escalating series of sanctions on Moscow, and Ukrainian officials and some U.S. lawmakers were hoping Biden would strike an even tougher blow Thursday to Russia’s economy.

But Biden opted not to sanction Russian energy giant Rosneft and instead focused this round of economic penalties on financial institutions, largely to avoid disrupting global energy markets.

“As we respond, my administration is using the tools, every tool to protect American families and businesses from rising prices at the gas pump,” he said.