Washington, March 21: US Deputy National Security Adviser Daleep Singh has said the US could still expand sanctions and reach “the commanding heights” of Russia’s economy. In an interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes, Singh noted that projections suggest that Russia’s economy will be half the size that it was before the invasion of Ukraine. The suggestions came in the backdrop of US President Joe Biden’s scheduled visit to Poland on Friday following meetings with Nato and EU allies, the White House announced.
On Monday, Biden is due to hold a call with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, and UK PM Boris Johnson. Singh also told CBS that Russia is already “looking into an economic abyss” and is “on a fast track to a 1980s-style Soviet living standards”. Despite the economic toll caused sanctions already enacted, Singh said that they could still be broadened and applied to other targets, including more banks and “sectors that we haven’t touched”, a BBC report quoted Singh’s interview. “It’s mostly about oil and gas, but there are other sectors too,” he said. “I don’t want to specify them, but I think Putin would know what those are.” “We take no pride in the suffering of the Russian people,” he added. “This is Putin’s war. These are Putin’s sanctions. And this is Putin’s hardship he’s putting on the Russian people.”
Weekend in Poland, Biden will meet with President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw to discuss the humanitarian response to the war in Ukraine. Mid week, he will travel to Brussels to attend Wednesday’s summits at Nato and the European Council, as well as a G7 meeting. However, he has no plans to travel to Ukraine during his trip, the White House spokeswoman said. “The President will discuss how the US, alongside our Allies and partners, is responding to the humanitarian and human rights crisis that Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked war on Ukraine has created,” the White House said on Sunday. UNI I
