GOP Senator Ben Sasse called on President Biden to tighten sanctions against “mobsters close to him” who “allow Putin’s madness” as lawmakers called on the president to personally sanction the Russian leader’s wealth.
“We need to impose targeted sanctions on the 16 oligarchs, the mobsters who are driving Putin crazy,” Sasse, R-Neb, told MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Friday.
“These guys, we need what’s done for TV. The way of life of the rich and famous holes,” he suggested.
On Thursday, Biden announced his sanctions tranche after Russian troops descended on Ukraine and dropped rockets and bombs from the sky, and Ukrainians were forced to hide overnight in bomb shelters and subway stations.
The sanctions target families close to Vladimir Putin, as well as senior Kremlin-affiliated executives.
They will now be subject to “full blocking sanctions”, meaning they are cut off from the US financial system, all assets held in the United States are frozen and barred from entering the United States.
Sasse said that while many Americans “can’t find Ukraine on the map,” he believes that “in the end, Americans will make wise and smart choices about understanding why our root interest here should be against the evil Vladimir Putin, because the man is big … a ** weapons, and he’s evil.
Former sec. Hillary Clinton agreed that Biden should attack more aggressively the wealth of those close to Putin.
“We have to persecute those oligarchs who support Putin financially. “They have to pay a price, whether their yachts or their homes have been confiscated … This is a critical moment and we must put maximum pressure on Putin as soon as possible,” she told Morning Joe.
Meanwhile, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., Has joined the sea of voices calling for President Biden to personally sanction Putin.
“We need to have targeted sanctions against the 16 oligarchs, the mobsters who are driving Putin crazy,” said Sen. Ben Sasse.
Sasse said Americans would understand why the United States should support Ukraine because Putin is “evil” and has “big weapons.”
“The strength and determination we have seen from the Ukrainian people is incredible, but the United States needs to do more. “We need to impose devastating personal sanctions on Putin and his friends and focus on crippling Russia’s economy and oligarchy,” he wrote on Twitter.
Biden curiously missed sanctions against Russia’s mega-rich leader. He said sanctioning Putin’s personal assets was “on the table”, but did not answer why he had not yet done so.
Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Followed Putin’s “greed” after news that the Russian president’s $ 81 million yacht was leaving Germany.
“Putin, a multi-billionaire, is the poster of greed and oligarchy. “Maybe before he starts a war that could kill thousands and displace millions, he may worry more about the people of Ukraine and Russia and less about his precious super-yacht,” Sanders wrote.
Putin is said to have a personal fortune of hundreds of billions, probably making him the richest man in the world, but this has never been confirmed. Forbes recently called it “the most elusive riddle in the search for wealth.”
Vladimir Putin’s superyacht “The Graceful” in the Kiel Canal. The ship leaves its German port before possible sanctions
The Nebraska Republican is also persecuting those who fight for non-interventionism, some of whom are in his own party.
– Those who advocate indifference [toward Russia’s invasion of Ukraine] they are wrong “and not everyone takes this position” in good faith “. Many are “trying to win cheap political points,” he said.
For the most part, Ohio Senate nominee JD Vance was a small but vocal wing of the Republican Party, which believes the United States should stay out of the conflict. He said this week that the invasion “has nothing to do with our national security” and “distracts our idiotic” leaders “from focusing on things that really matter to our national security, such as securing the border and stopping the flow of fentanyl. kills American children.
As he argued for tougher sanctions, Sasse described in detail the differences between the US agencies.
“There is almost no urgency in the Treasury and the State Department as there is in the Intel community and the Pentagon,” he said.
Sasse also called on the United Kingdom, saying London needed to do more to tackle Russia’s wealth, which is “jumping all over London”.
“We need the British, who have been great allies in general, to step up and recognize that a tonne of Russian billionaire money is circulating all over London and we need to drive them out of the country,” he said.
A man clears debris from a damaged apartment building on Kosice Street, a suburb of the Ukrainian capital Kiev where a military shell is believed to have hit, on February 25th.
A soldier walks past the wreckage of a military plane that was shot down overnight in Kiev, Ukraine, 25
Consequences of the shelling at night in a residential area in Kiev, Ukraine, February 25
“Their children must be expelled from the country and return and live in the hellish holes of Moscow with Putin, because they are the ones who allow it. They don’t want to live with it, but they like to make money from it. There must be more consequences for them and we must act faster.
Members of Boris Johnson’s Tory party have accused the prime minister of “encouraging” Putin’s invasion with “his pathetic sanctions” on Monday. After the criticism, Johnson tightened on Friday as he announced 10 separate strands of measures to have a “significant” impact on Moscow’s economy on Thursday – with officials saying they should cut a few percentage points of its GDP .
The assets of all major Russian banks – including VTB – will be frozen, and new legislation will block the ability of the state and all major companies in the country to raise money in London markets.
Johnson pointed out that half of Russia’s trade is currently in dollars and sterling.
The government says more than 100 people, legal entities and subsidiaries will be subject to sanctions, including defense giant Rostech. There will be travel bans and restrictions on the assets of five other people – including Kirill Shamalov, Russia’s youngest billionaire and previously married to Putin’s daughter.