Biden Drops New Sanctions With More Holes Than Swiss Cheese Then Leaves for Weekend – Opinion

Jen Psaki, White House Press Secretary announced that they have now agreed to place sanctions against Vladimir Putin and Sergei Lavrov. But, Psaki wouldn’t confirm that what they intend to do would have any effect on Putin.

REPORTER: “Can you even say if this will impact [Putin]?”

PSAKI: “I’m not going to get into his personal financial assets.” pic.twitter.com/3bLqnaU6q2

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) February 25, 2022

KT McFarland, who served as Deputy National Security Advisor for President Donald Trump, said on Fox News she believed that wouldn’t have the desired effect at this point, that they needed to cut the Russians off from the SWIFT system to have an impact.

But even as the Biden team is saying this, even as Joe Biden claimed he would make Putin a “pariah,” the Biden administration is still saying that they will work with Russia on other issues in areas of key interest.

Only Now: State Department spokesperson promises US will keep working with Russia in key areas (presumably, the Iran nuclear agreement and Kerry’s remarks on climate change). Russia declares itself a pariah. Stunning.

— Richard Goldberg (@rich_goldberg) February 25, 2022

What is the best way to make them feel like a pariah while still working and meeting with them? We heard from John Kerry, Biden’s climate czar, that his concern was that this not interfere with their work with Russia on climate change.

Plus, how do you call them pariahs if they still purchase 595,000 barrels oil per day? What is your plan to end the dependence on Russia and restore our energy independence, which we enjoyed under Donald Trump’s presidency? As we noted, there doesn’t seem to be any such plan. These sanctions were not intended to impact Russian energy. Perhaps because Biden made us more dependent on Russia through increased purchases of Russian oil. But you can still do it so as not to disrupt American flow.

As the AP’s Matt Lee breaks down here, they put sanctions on Russia and then they have so many “exemptions,” then what does any of this mean? Lee confirms that virtually everything is exempt. Ned Price, spokesperson for the State Department seems utterly speechless. He has not responded to this question.

WATCH: AP journalist roasts Biden’s State Department spokesman about the “frankly large” exemptions to Biden’s sanctions.

“Can you point to something specific that is now no longer able to be talked about with Russians?” pic.twitter.com/x12XcjmXEQ

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) February 25, 2022

Except for now placing sanctions on Putin, Lavrov (with many exemptions), Biden is still holding back tough sanctions such as removing them from SWIFT.

Biden claims that sanctions should be extended for a month so we can see how they work. But as we’ve been saying, Ukraine may not have a month. The Russians may be trying to seize Kyiv. However, the defence has proven to be far superior to what the Russians expected. Volodymyr Zilensky, the leader of Ukraine, and his courage have been displayed for all to see.

Meanwhile, while Biden is saying: hey, just wait a month to see the results of my amazingly tough sanctions, he’s off to Delaware for the weekend — as the Ukrainians are huddled in the subway to protect from the bombs, and the Russians move in.

White House confirms that Joe Biden is going to Delaware this weekend

— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) February 25, 2022

Priorities.