Joe Biden talked today about the new sanctions the U.S. would be placing on Russia.
Biden announced that the U.S. — with some of the other allies of NATO and the G7 countries — would be revoking what is commonly referred to as “most favored nation status” for Russia or “permanent normal trade relations” (PNTR).
Biden declares that the U.S., NATO and allies will eliminate Russia’s “most preferred nation” status:
It will also be a crushing blow for the Russian economy if it is done in concert with the other half of the world’s economy. pic.twitter.com/jMg43ZxhED
— The Recount (@therecount) March 11, 2022
Biden said that they were going to act jointly “to squeeze Putin and hold him even more accountable for his aggression against Ukraine.”
“We are also taking a further step of abandoning imports of goods from several signature sectors of the Russian economy including seafood, vodka and diamonds,” Biden continued. “The G-7 will seek to deny Russia the ability to borrow from leading multinational institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.”
“Putin is the aggressor and Putin must pay the price,” Biden said.
Biden continued to insist that they won’t send troops into Ukraine, as this would cause World War III. I would agree we don’t want that, but every time he says that, he telegraphs to Putin that his biggest concern is off the table. Which is why you don’t keep saying what’s off the table.
I’m not sure how much difference these sanctions will make at this point to Vladimir Putin, who doesn’t care about how much his people hurt in the process of all this. What makes a difference to Putin is weapons and while the U.S. has provided some weapons, they’ve held back on things like the Polish planes, playing this game of “Some weapons are okay and others aren’t,” which doesn’t quite make any sense.
Biden read his comments and answered one question about the possibility of Russia using chemical weapons. Biden said that if Russia did that, they would “pay a severe price.”
JUST IN: Russia would be paying a heavy price for using chemical weapons, Pres. Biden says.
U.S. warns of Russian false claims concerning biochemical weapons that could be used as an excuse for using them. Read more: https://t.co/Sf8pQJpYWb pic.twitter.com/ztDWqEIv5P
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) March 11, 2022
Before he leaves the room, Biden answers one reporter’s question.
“Russia would pay a severe price if they used chemical weapons.” pic.twitter.com/3MBOC62wrv
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) March 11, 2022
The problem is that Putin has the example of the red line of Barack Obama in Syria to know that Biden’s “pay a severe price” is amorphous and doesn’t necessarily mean a lot. He’s also seen that Biden’s threats in Afghanistan didn’t mean much either. This is another situation where being weak in the past doesn’t serve him well.
Jen Psaki (White House Press Secretary) was inflaming the rumors of chemical weapons Thursday. The Russian allegations of U.S. chemical weapon or biological development in Ukraine were addressed by Psaki, who suggested that there could be biological/chemical weapons attacks precipitated from Russia. They would then put the blame on the U.S.A. and Ukraine. That would then raise the stakes of potential further western involvement in the war, although Psaki refused to say if the use of chemical weapons would be a “red line” that Putin couldn’t cross. But she isn’t the only one who has brought up the possibility of biological/chemical weapons use.
It was also mentioned by Senator Marco Rubio (R,FL), when he was asking Victoria Nuland, Undersecretary for State for Political Affairs about it. Rubio wanted to know if Ukraine had chemical or biological weapons. He presumably expected her answer no. However, instead of answering straight away, Rubio was told that she was aware that there are biological research labs that the U.S. is concerned might be used by the Russians. Rubio’s concern then was to point out if there was a “release” that that would mean Russia did it.
According to Victoria Nuland (Undersecretary of State), Ukraine is equipped with “biological research capabilities”. Sen Rubio was asked if Ukraine is in possession of chemical or biological weapons. She said she fears Russia could get them. She insists that Russia is the only one responsible for any biological attacks. pic.twitter.com/uo3dHDMfAS
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) March 8, 2022
Obviously, with Rubio’s mention of it and Psaki’s, they have some fear that something is going to happen. Live Now, Fox reports that the UN also warns Russia against chemical weapons usage. Which makes one wonder, just what exactly was going on there that they’re worried about?
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