While I appreciate the swiftness of the WH response re: sanctions on the territories recognized by Putin, I'm afraid they are inadequate and inappropriate in several respects. They are likely to be of only minimal economic consequence. Further...
...they punish the people of the territories rather than the wrong-doers, Vladimir Putin and his government. They also suggest that our severe sanctions will also come not unless there is an invasion--even if Putin unilaterally claims what would be one of the goals of invasion.
The threat of force should not be seen as an acceptable or "minor" international offense in a case like this. (You don't need to fire a gun for the penalties for armed robbery to kick in.) Proportionality is good. But, this feels light to me.
More can come. We can see what the EU has in store. We can see what is done via other diplomatic channels. But what Putin has done today is unilaterally scrap the Minsk agreement and thumb his nose at international law and that is no small thing.
The Biden Administration has gotten this right every step of the way so far and I have great confidence in the judgment of their senior decision-makers. So I hope the next phases of their response will be more robust and appropriate to the Putin action & implicit threat.
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