(NewsNation Now) — President Joe Biden’s administration is said to have prepared an initial package of sanctions against Russia that includes barring U.S. financial institutions from processing transactions for major Russian banks if the country invades Ukraine.
The measure aims to hurt the Russian economy by cutting the correspondent banking relationships between targeted Russian banks and U.S. banks that enable international payments.
Top Russian financial institutions including VTB Bank VTBR.MM, Sberbank SBER.MM, VEB and Gazprombank GZPRI.MM are said to be possible targets.
On Saturday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy pleaded with western leaders to impose sanctions now or at least make them public so Putin knows the possible consequences of invasion.
“You are telling me that it’s 100% that the war will start in a couple of days. Well fine. Then what are you waiting for? We don’t need your sanctions after the war will happen, and after our country will be fired at, after we will have no borders or after we will have no economy,” Zelenskyy said. “Part of our country will be occupied? Why will we need those sanctions then?”
However, many NATO countries believe sanctions should wait until Russia moves.
The Biden administration has been threatening tough banking sanctions against Russia for weeks in a bid to deter Putin from invading Ukraine. Moscow has amassed upward of 150,000 troops on Ukraine’s borders, but Putin has denied plans to launch an attack.
Tensions grew over the weekend as Russia extended military drills in Belarus, heightening fears among Western powers of an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Biden and Putin on Sunday agreed in principle to a summit, France said, offering hope conflict could be avoided.