Biden announces sanctions against Russian banks

US President Joe Biden ordered new U.S. financial sanctions against Russian banks on Tuesday.

Biden, in a brief address from the White House, accused Putin of flagrantly “violating international law” and promised that more sanctions would be coming if Putin proceeds further.

Biden joined the 27 European Union members who unanimously agreed on Tuesday to levy their own initial set of sanctions targeting Russian officials. Germany also announced it was halting the process of certifying the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia.

Biden said the U.S. would impose “full blocking” on two large Russian financial institutions and “comprehensive sanctions” on Russian debt.

“That means we’ve cut off Russia’s government from Western finance,” Biden said. “It can no longer raise money from the West and cannot trade in its new debt on our markets or European markets either.”