Following his well-established policy of too little/too late, President Biden issued 500 sanctions on Russian entities and individuals. That brings his total sanctions to approximately 17,000. The latest round was not because of the invasion of Ukraine, but for the death (murder) of Russian dissident leader Alexei Navalny.
Biden specifically told Putin that if Navalny were to die in prison, the actions taken by the United States and other Western nations would be “devastating.” Once again, Biden’s tough rhetoric has not been fulfilled by his actions.
You may recall that Biden promised to hit Putin with every sanction possible at the onset of the invasion – and they would be devastating. Based on the periodic imposition of new sanctions, we can safely say that Biden was lying in the beginning – and now there were even more sanctions on the shelf to be imposed.
According to the experts, the impact of these new sanctions will not be felt for a month or even years – if at all. That has been the history of all those 16,000-plus previous sanctions. They have totally failed to cripple the Russian economy or reduce Putin’s capacity and willingness to pursue the war in Ukraine.
Biden’s threat of devastating responses if Navalny died in prison did not prevent Putin from having him killed. Biden has yet to produce a devastating response. The 500 new sanctions are far from devastating.
Interestingly, the wealthiest woman in Russia, oligarch Elena Badturina – a friend of Vladimir Putin and widow of Yury Luzhkov, the former mayor of Moscow – has not suffered any sanctions. What is interesting about that is that she is also the woman who provided Hunter Biden’s business with $3.5 million for reasons still unknown. That is one of the issues being investigated in Congress.
The sanctions have not only not prevented Putin from carrying on his dirty little war, but the Russian economy has been growing and prospering. One can debate whether Putin is winning the war, but he certainly is not losing it. And all the sanctions that were to devastate Russia have hardly had any discernible impact.
This is because many nations are simply ignoring the sanctions. Russia had more than $100 billion in oil sales in 2023. India – ostensibly an ally of the United States – increased its purchase of Russian oil by 13-fold since the invasion of Ukraine. Iran and North Korea both provide weapons to Russia.
What should the United States do? How about we make it our policy to actually defeat Putin?
We should declare it US and UN policy that Putin keeping any troops in Ukraine is unacceptable. And then start implementing an effective series of actions to prove we mean it.
The unified plan should be to interdict shipments of oil and weapons that violate the sanctions … sanction nations ignoring the sanctions on Russia … ship those jet planes to Ukraine and all the sophisticated weaponry and ammunition necessary to overcome Russan advantage in personnel and equipment … use western intelligence to target Russian assets more effectively… remove the restriction of striking military targets inside Russia … terminate the policy that prevents direct involvement by the United States and NATO … use propaganda to foment dissent inside Russia … and more.
While Congress shamefully debates financial aid to Ukraine, we should seize the $350 billion in Russian funds in foreign banks and give it to Ukraine. What would be more ironic than to use Putin’s own money against him.
Just the fact that Putin could be convinced that American threats are not empty, he would lose a lot of support. Countries such as India would have to reassess their relationship with Russia. At this point there is no downside to ignoring American leadership. Which means America is NOT leading.
Unfortunately, we are facing having a President too compromised and too weak to lead (Biden) and a potential future President questioning the entire idea of American aid to Ukraine (Trump). Instead of rising to the occasion, America may be ducking – and that is catastrophe news for Ukraine, the United States and the world democracies.
So, there ‘tis.