U.S. President Joe Biden has decided to extend the sanctions that the U.S. government has imposed against Russia for another year, citing the country’s continued threat to national security. Biden had previously spoken about the sanctions, explaining that the only option other than invoking them would involve direct international military conflict.
U.S. President Joe Biden extends anti-Russian sanctions for another year
U.S. President Joe Bidendecidedto extend for one year the sanctions he enacted against the country, saying that the activities of the Russian Federation “continue to pose an extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy and economy of the United States.”
according to
Executive Order 14024issued on April 15, 2021, the Russian Government “endeavors to undermine the conduct of free and fair democratic elections and democratic institutions in the United States … and efforts to violate established principles of international law, including respect for the territorial integrity of states.”
The sanctions designated several Russian companies, including the Russian House of Representatives and its members, as well as a number of companies associated with the country’s military-industrial complex. The order was later expanded to designate even more individuals and companies assisting Russia in evading sanctions.
Two options: sanctions or war
Analysts have criticized the enactment and expansion of these sanctions, and their efficiency, as contributing to the ongoing process by many countries, including China and India, to reduce their reliance on the US dollar as a reserve and settlement currency.
Senator Marco Rubio commented on the sanctions, saying that other major governments are creating alternative international settlement markets away from the dollar; in a March 30 interview with Fox News, he said:
We won’t have to talk about sanctions because in five years there will be so many countries trading in currencies other than the dollar that we won’t have the ability to sanction them.
However, President Biden had previously expressed his position that he considered prior and expanded Russian sanctions to be the “most far-reaching” in history and an alternative to direct military confrontation.In a February 26, 2022 post with Youtuber Brian Tyler Cohen In an interview, Bidenreferred to the sanctions issue and said:
You have two choices. One, start World War III and physically go to war with Russia. Or two, make sure that any country that acts against international law will pay the price for doing so.
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