While the West has expressed unity of sentiment in opposition to a possible invasion of Ukraine by Russia, it has yet to fully articulate – perhaps deliberately – what sanctions might be imposed, and in what circumstances.
In the United States, senators have failed to reach agreement on a bipartisan sanctions package, with Republican senators introducing their own bill, the Never Yielding Europe’s Territory (‘NYET’) Act, which, if law, would immediately stop construction of the Nordstream2 pipeline and ‘send a clear deterrent message to Putin that an invasion of Ukraine will result in massive economic consequences to Russia’s economy, including: sanctions on major Russian banks; and secondary sanctions on banks that continue business with sanctioned Russian banks.’
It also ‘allows any chairman or ranking member of a national security committee to force a determination from the president on whether Russia’s aggression against Ukraine constitutes a major escalation and fulfills conditions to trigger sanctions.’
However, the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Menendez, said in response to ‘Nyet’, “It’s a shame that Senate Republicans have decided to choose partisan posturing instead of working to reach consensus on a comprehensive bipartisan proposal that would demonstrate a united front to deter Putin from re-invading Ukraine,’ adding,
‘A partisan victory is not worth a message of division from Washington, which only benefits Putin. That is why I have worked for weeks to convince Republicans to join us in legislating something that can deter Putin, and why I will continue pushing for my Republican colleagues to reconsider this path before it’s too late for the people of Ukraine.’
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As Russian troop and tank numbers increase, so do western sanctions threats
