In an address from the White House on Thursday, President Joe Biden laid out a new series of economic sanctions — backed by dozens of other countries — in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"Putin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war, and now he will suffer the consequences," Biden said.
The sanctions levied Thursday include blocking assets of large Russian banks, imposing export controls and sanctioning Russian oligarchs who have funds outside of the country.
However, the sanctions stopped short of cutting Russia off from access to SWIFT, the international banking system, due to concerns from U.S. allies about how such a move would affect the European economy.
His remarks came hours after a meeting he conducted with the leaders of other G7 countries regarding the sanctions.
Earlier this week, Biden announced he was levying several economic sanctions on Russia as the country moved troops into separatist-held Ukrainian territory. Those sanctions impacted financial activity connected to Russia's sovereign debt, as well as sanctions on Russian elites and their family members.
NATO allies have also imposed their own economic sanctions. Germany has taken steps to cancel a lucrative pipeline project, the Nord Stream 2, which would provide gas from Russia into Germany and the rest of Western Europe.
