Escuche esta historia
--:--
5:24
Joe Biden threatens Putin with strong retaliation if he escalates a crisis in Ukraine
Both Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin have spoken today on the subject of Ukraine amid fears that this conflict will escalate, a problem that continues to claim the lives of many people, which is why right now it is in a phase of open war.
This is how both leaders have held a virtual meeting this Tuesday, which has lasted about two hours and the President of the United States, Joe Biden has not hesitated to threaten his Russian counterpart with taking strong economic and other measures, if it comes to attack Ukraine.
He has also asked him to lower tensions and return to diplomacy to try to solve the conflict. This has been reported from the White House.
Putin just a few weeks ago assured that he wants binding guarantees that NATO will not expand eastward, as well as a promise that certain weapons will not be deployed in countries close to Russia, including Ukraine.
In this way, the Russian leader has expressed the following: "The problem right now is the possible deployment in the Ukrainian territory of powerful attack systems with a flight time of seven to ten minutes to Moscow or five minutes only in the case of hypersonic systems, imagine that. "
The Kremlin has always wanted Ukraine out of NATO, something that has not been a secret to anyone all this time.
But in Moscow, they have argued that even if Ukraine never officially joins the alliance, it will also not become a de facto US outpost on the Russian border. On the other hand, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has today accused Russia of deploying other war tanks and sniper teams in the front line, so it is believed that Russia could attack Ukraine at any time.
Sanctions on Russia by the United States
Russia's banks could start to be hit by harsh economic sanctions. This is how Joe Biden is preparing economic sanctions to dissuade Putin from using the thousands of soldiers he has concentrated on the border.
This is how these sanctions could be directed at the largest banks in all of Russia and affect Moscow's ability to convert rubles into dollars and other currencies. They also think that they are going to put pressure on the circle closest to Putin, but they have not made any decisions.
Considering the possible sanctions by the US. The chief executive of the main Russian bank, Sterbank, German Gref, has called all this an absurd idea and impossible to execute, reason why he believes that they will not be able to achieve their objectives.
According to different media, it is thought that these sanctions could include the disconnection of Russia from the international payment system, SWIFT, which is used by almost all banks in the world, this would be a very extreme measure in case of take. While the allies of the United States and Europe have been studying measures that would be directed to Russia's Direct Investment Fund, it is a sovereign investment fund established in 2011 by the Russian government.
This consists of being able to invest in projects aimed at the fastest growing sectors. They are also known for having promoted the creation of the Russian vaccine against COVID-19, Sputnik V.
It is thought that the United States could restrict investors' ability to buy Russian debt on the secondary market.
Balance of forces
In recent months the Kremlin has sent two messages to the new President of the United States, Joe Biden. The first of these has been that Russia attaches paramount importance to Ukraine no matter how much Afghanistan or China require renewed attention.
And the second is that Russia feels less and less comfortable and calm with the "status quo" that exists in Ukraine, a country that still remains between a rock and a hard place of separatism and the risk of a new invasion.
On this occasion and unlike the military escalation last April, which could be solved without regrettable consequences, Moscow seems to be convinced of taking drastic measures to try to solve this situation or at least this is what the analyst of the Carnegie Moscow Center, Maxim Samorukov.
This is how Maxim Samorukov thinks that the objective of the Kremlin in the current crisis is not to inflict a humiliating defeat on Kiev or to have to take on the unpleasant task of occupying Ukraine, but on the contrary, to be able to persuade the West that Russia is ready to start a full-scale war on Ukraine.
This would be changing if something is done about the current situation that, in the eyes of Putin and Russia, is something unacceptable and that they are not willing to let go of without taking any repression. Through images taken from satellites, it has been possible to see Russian troops from various places in the country located in the Smolensk region, at least about 200 kilometers from the border with Ukraine, which has created a war alert in that country.
Despite this, Moscow has constantly denied that they are preparing an invasion and has said that the function of its troops there is solely as a means of defense, although at some point they have also been talking about simple military maneuvers. It has been seen that Russia is increasingly upset due to the Western military support that Ukraine has been receiving, and they continue not to accept the years of progressive expansion of NATO. Kiev has increasingly better weapons to be able to attack the positions of the separatists.
After seven years of the annexation of Crimea, the designation of Moscow as an enemy is transversal in a good part of the social spectrum of the country and support for NATO integration is on the rise. Moscow's soft power in Ukraine is at lows, so only threats can work this time. Kiev has repeatedly made it known that it is not planning any attacks against the separatists. But Moscow has doubts about Ukraine's intentions and has expressed that it wants guarantees that Kiev would not be using force to try to regain territory lost in 2014 from the separatists who were supported by Russia at the time.
