“Putin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war. And now he and his country will bear the consequences,” Biden said, laying out a set of measures that will “impose severe cost on the Russian economy, both immediately and over time.”
The new sanctions include export blocks on technology, a centerpiece of Biden’s approach that he said would severely limit Russia’s ability to advance its military and aerospace sector. He also applied sanctions on Russian banks and “corrupt billionaires” and their families who are close to the Kremlin.
The targets were not limited to Russia. The US also went after individuals in Belarus, including the country’s defense minister, for that country’s role in facilitating the Russian attack.
“Our forces are not and will not be engaged in the conflict,” he said. “Our forces are not going to Europe to fight in Ukraine but defend our NATO allies and reassure those allies in the east.”
Biden addressed the nation from the White House East Room, his first appearance in public since the Russian attack commenced late Wednesday. In his remarks, Biden cast Russia’s invasion of its neighbor as a generational moment that has the potential to upend global order.
“Putin’s actions betray a sinister vision for the future of our world, one where nations take what they want by force,” he said.
He declared the Russian president’s actions would “end up costing Russia dearly, economically and strategically.”
Biden’s sanctions are now meant to punish Putin’s actions, rather than prevent them, by going after Russia’s economy, its military capabilities and those closest to the Russian president. How much they can alter Putin’s decision-making going forward, however, remains an open question.
“No one expected the sanctions to prevent anything from happening. It’s going to take time. We have to show resolve. He knows what is coming,” Biden said.
Mindful of rising gas prices in the United States, Biden said he was working to limit the fallout the new sanctions would have on energy prices. He said the US was ready to release barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve alongside its allies.
“I know this is hard and that Americans are already hurting,” he said. “I’ll do everything in my power to limit the pain the American people are feeling at the gas pump.”
Before he spoke, Biden conferred with the leaders from the Group of 7 industrialized nations about which sanctions they planned to impose, hoping to coordinate a response that projects unity among Western allies. US and European officials spoke by phone overnight into Thursday to coordinate their responses.
In a joint statement following the virtual meeting, the leaders of the G7 said Putin has “re-introduced war to the European continent.”
“He has put himself on the wrong side of history,” the leaders wrote.
On Thursday morning, EU Commission President Ursula von Leyen promised to “weaken Russia’s economic base and its capacity to modernize” following the “barbaric attack” by Russia against Ukraine.
“We will freeze Russian assets in the European Union and stop the access of Russian banks to European financial markets,” she said.
Biden also convened a meeting of his National Security Council on Thursday morning to discuss the situation in Ukraine, a White House official said.
Biden’s top national security aides convened emergency meetings late Wednesday as Putin announced his plan to launch a “military operation” against Ukraine in a televised address. The speech was aired in Russia at the same time the United Nations Security Council was convening to condemn Moscow’s behavior, catching some delegates off-guard.
Huddled in the West Wing, Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan and other top officials prepared a statement from Biden condemning Russia’s attack as “unprovoked and unjustified.”
“President Putin has chosen a premeditated war that will bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering,” Biden wrote in the statement, issued at 10:25 pm ET just as explosions began in Kyiv.
An hour later, Biden was on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who reached out to the White House as his country was coming under siege.
“He asked me to call on the leaders of the world to speak out clearly against President Putin’s flagrant aggression, and to stand with the people of Ukraine,” Biden said afterward in a statement. He said the US and its partners planned on “imposing severe sanctions on Russia.”
This story and headline have been updated with additional developments Thursday.
