WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will announce new sanctions on several Russian oligarchs and their families, as pressure continued to build on Capitol Hill for an even tougher response to Moscow a week after it invaded Ukraine, particularly a ban on imports of Russian oil and gas, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday.
Unwilling to engage Russia’s military directly, the U.S. and Europe have also increased their shipments of weapons and defense equipment to Ukraine in recent days, as live television coverage of Russia’s unprovoked aggression and social media posts from Ukraine have galvanized the West. Meanwhile, both the U.S. and European leaders continue to ratchet up the economic pressure on the elites in President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle in an effort to bring an end to his merciless assault on Ukraine.
“We want [Putin] to feel the squeeze; we want the people around him to feel the squeeze,” Psaki said. “Making them a priority and a focus of our individual sanctions is something the president has been focused on.”
