Thread by @HawaiiDelilah

Pres Biden condemns the unprovoked war started by Putin & reminds us all that he and his admin were correct in their predictions of what would transpire. Says he was transparent with what he knew so they would be no doubt that Putin is responsible for the war.

Pres Biden emphasizes that the sanctions he unleashes have been imposed in concert with allies and not in isolation. New sanctions will limit Russia's ability to do business in dollars, pounds, euros, yen. Notes that ruble hit its lowest-ever level.

https://twitter.com/HawaiiDelilah/status/1496919431842189320?s=20&t=YNSlg1jMgxY0iCrZDV8KMA

Pres Biden says the new U.S. sanctions he is authorizing were purposefully designed to maximize a long-term impact on Russia and to minimize the impact on the United States and allies.

President Biden's key point on Russian sanctions: "Every asset they have in America will be frozen."

(He's speaking about banks and not Trump and Republicans... but I digress)

Biden says that the U.S. is blocking multiple large Russian banks including VTB, sanctioning Russian elites & family. The U.S. will also cut off Russia's high tech imports to prevent them from modernizing multiple industries, & cut off state enterprises from US/Euro investment

President Biden explains they are not cutting off Russia from SWIFT right now saying that "It is always an option but right now that's not a position that the rest of Europe wishes to take." (Get on board, Europe.)

President Biden says "Our forces are not and will not be engaged in the conflict with Russia in Ukraine." But he says U.S. is deploying additional forces to Germany to bolster NATO given the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

President Biden says he has no intention of talking to Putin. Says, “There is a complete rupture right now in U,S. Russia relations." Fascinatingly will not say whether he has consulted with China.

Asked if he is confident that these sanctions are going to be as devastating as Russian missiles and bullets and tanks, President Biden says, "Yes. Russian bullets and missiles and tanks in Ukraine. Yes, I am."

Crucially, President Biden is fully aware that the NATO expansion excuse is now irrelevant. Says, "He has much larger ambitions than Ukraine. He wants to, in fact, re-establish the former Soviet Union. That's what this is about." Exactly.

President Biden anchored his address by vowing that we would make Putin a "pariah" on international stage.

Make. It. So.