The Biden administration's new package of sanctions against Russia and the Putin regime following the death of Putin opponent Alexei Navalny is allegedly designed to, in the president's words, ”ensure Putin pays an even steeper price for his aggression abroad and repression at home.”
Sure they will. Just as the raft of sanctions western nations and the Biden administration imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine failed to slow Putin in the least, this new batch will end up doing any better.
Away from the Biden administration courtiers fawning over the determination this tough-minded president is showing to hold a dictator accountable, experts privately say these new tweaks are “likely to land a limited blow.”
That's being far too generous to an administration that, despite its ongoing efforts to show Biden is firmly in command, continues to be utterly unserious about hitting Russia where it counts.
That, The Wall Street Journal writes, means seizing Russia's extensive foreign reserves and putting them to work on behalf of Ukraine:
Mr. Biden and Western nations have been reluctant to confiscate the $300 billion or so in Russian reserve funds parked in Western financial institutions. They were frozen when Russia invaded, but there they sit two years later collecting dust and interest. It's almost as if Mr. Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz imagine that the money might be an inducement for Vladimir Putin to negotiate a peace deal and rejoin the civilized world.
That Team Biden has refused to take this obvious step is even more baffling – and maddening – considering it has bipartisan support in Congress:
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 20-1 in January to support the asset seizure, and the sense of Congress is clear. An asset seizure isn't a substitute for a weapons bill because Ukraine needs the ammunition right now. But the move would signal to Ukraine that the West isn't abandoning its cause.
Such a signal is desperately needed, given that the Trump campaign and an increasing number of Republicans are intent on playing the role of useful idiot to Putin, decry both any further aid and embracing a Russian victory.
On its best days, our political class is mendacious and unserious. We can now add “shamelessly untrustworthy” to the list.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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