US President, Joe Biden has threatened to inflict personal sanctions on President Vladimir Putin if Russia invades Ukraine.
This comes as Russia continues to amass hundreds of thousands of troops at Ukraine’s border and multiple rounds of U.S.-Russia talks over Ukraine that failed to reach a breakthrough.
Biden has since warned Russia of economic consequences, but has now upped the tempo by saying Putin could face sanctions.
The last time the US used sanctions on Foreign leaders was Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro. Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and Libya’s Muammer Gaddafi have also been sanctioned by the US government.
Speaking to reporters, Biden was asked if he would see himself imposing sanctions on Putin directly if Russia invaded Ukraine. ‘Yes,’ he responded. ‘I would see that.’
The US has also put 8,500 troops on heightened alert and prepared to send 50,000 more if Russia invades Ukraine
Despite Russia’s troop build-up near its border with Ukraine, Russia has denied planning an attack and says the crisis is being driven by NATO and U.S. actions.
Russia is demanding security guarantees from the West, including a promise by NATO never to admit Ukraine into the alliance as Russia sees the former Soviet republic as a threat if it joins NATO.
If Russia were to move into Ukraine with the estimated 100,000 soldiers it has massed near the border, Biden said it would be the ‘largest invasion since World War Two’ and would ‘change the world.’
