According to two persons familiar with the issue, US President Joe Biden will call for the suspension of normal commercial ties with Russia on Friday as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, paving the door for higher taxes on Russian goods. The action is the latest in a series of steps taken by the US and its allies to put pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop Europe’s biggest war since World War II.
President Joe Biden will declare on Friday that the US, in collaboration with the European Union and the Group of Seven, would take steps to revoke Russia’s “most favoured country” trading status in reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. According to a source acquainted with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to have a head start on the announcement, this is the case. Biden’s recommendation comes as bipartisan pressure rises in Washington to sever “permanent regular commercial connections” with Russia. The US and its allies would be able to impose taxes on Russian imports as a result of the proposal.
As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began its third week, the US Congress enacted a massive omnibus 2022 spending plan that included about $14 billion in humanitarian and military help to the war-torn country. With federal funding set to expire at midnight Friday into Saturday, thousands of workers would have been sent home without pay, lawmakers were facing the latest in a series of shutdown showdowns.
Shoigu also advocated handing them to Donbass forces Western-made Javelin and Stinger weapons that the Russian army had acquired in Ukraine. “I welcome the option of giving them to the armed formations of the Lugansk and Donetsk people’s provinces in terms of the transfer of ammunition, predominantly Western-made weapons that have tumbled into the hands of the Russian military,” Putin stated.
He instructed Shoigu, “Please do this.” On February 24, Russia invaded Ukraine, shortly after Putin recognised the separatist areas as separate republics, in a move widely regarded as unlawful by the international community.
Russia claims its “special military operation” in Ukraine was compelled in reaction to what it considers Ukraine’s genocide of Russian-speakers in the country’s east — a justification Kyiv and the West dismiss as bogus war propaganda.
After what he described as an increase of Western military formations on Russia’s border, Shoigu said the Russian military sought to bolster its Western border. (Guy Faulconbridge contributed reporting, and Alex Richardson edited the piece.)
As the deadline drew, senators in the upper chamber of the judicial body followed their House of Representatives counterparts, who approved the $1.5 trillion accord on Wednesday. “We’re keeping our vow to support Ukraine as they struggle for their lives against the despicable Vladimir Putin,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement. “About $14 billion in emergency aid will be permitted by Congress, more than double the sum requested by the administration.”
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