Victoria Nuland
The United States admits an option in which Russia will be completely isolated from the world financial system in the event of an invasion of Ukraine. This was announced by Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, RIA Novosti reports.
As Nuland noted, the United States is discussing such a scenario with its allies. She warned that the de facto isolation would have implications for Russian businesses and Russians themselves, as well as their opportunities for work, travel and trade. In an effort to keep Russia from aggression, the United States is considering all available options, and unprecedented sanctions can be introduced in stages, the Deputy Secretary of State added.
In addition, the United States expressed the hope that in the event of an invasion of Ukraine, the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline would be shut down. In this regard, the American side is consulting with the new government of Germany. The implementation of the project depends on his position, Nuland noted. At the same time, the United States sees on the German side a readiness for decisive action.
Today, as you know, is the first day of the work of the new German government, and we have already begun intensive consultations with them.
Victoria NulandDeputy Secretary of State “The Mother of All Sanctions”
US President Joe Biden also warned that the United States could introduce economic and other measures in the event of a military escalation in Ukraine during a conversation with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. To this, the Russian president replied that the sanctions have no positive effect, including for the United States itself.
Despite this, the Kremlin noted that Biden softened his rhetoric on possible sanctions against Russia during online talks with Putin. In particular, the American leader mentioned the restrictive measures in a more acceptable form than had been done earlier in various public statements.
On the same evening, the head of the US Senate International Committee, Democrat Robert Menendez, announced the development of the “mother of all sanctions” against Russia during the invasion of Ukraine. It is noted that the package of measures will have “devastating consequences” for the Russian people. Menendez stressed that he had proposed including restrictive measures in the draft defense budget, but will now look for other possibilities to include them in the legislative framework.
Information hysteria
The fact that the United States has prepared a new sanctions package against Russia, including disconnecting from SWIFT, was reported on December 6. The authors of the document assess it as “damn aggressive”. In addition, it contains a ban on the use of American banks and payment systems for large Russian businessmen and representatives of the close circle of President Vladimir Putin.
At the same time, the Kremlin called this information a continuation of the information hysteria. And the first deputy head of the Federation Council committee on international affairs, Vladimir Dzhabarov, said that he was also skeptical about the threats of the American authorities and considered disconnecting Russia from the SWIFT system an unlikely scenario.
On December 7, it became known that the United States had abandoned sanctions on Russia's sovereign debt. The country's defense budget was presented without corresponding restrictions. In addition, the document did not include sanctions against the Russian gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 and against Russian individuals suspected of violating human rights.
