US President Joe Biden and the leaders of the G7 met virtually with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday and discussed further actions the US and its allies are taking to punish Russia for its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, which include sanctions against Russia’s three largest television channels and a commitment from every member of the G7 to phase out Russian oil imports, according to a senior administration official and a White House fact sheet, APA reports citing CNN.
“This is already a failure for Putin, and we’re going to continue to honor the brave fighting that’s taking place by Ukraine’s people and listen to President Zelensky and recommit to staying the course,” the senior official told reporters ahead of the President’s meeting.
This official added that while the leaders today will “take stock of where we are,” the call will also highlight how Russian President Vladimir Putin is “dishonoring” the sacrifices made by Soviet Russian citizens, millions of whom sacrificed their lives to defeat fascism during World War II.
“Putin is dishonoring those sacrifices by spreading his lies, his disinformation about the barbarism he is committing in Ukraine … It’s really a chance to speak the truth and demonstrate our continued unity,” this official said of the call.
The new sanctions unveiled by the US on Sunday will cut off Kremlin-controlled media outlets from US advertisers and production technology, ban Russia from using US-provided services like management or corporate consulting and accounting, as well as impose new export controls against the Russian industrial sector. Sunday’s announcement also includes roughly 2,600 visa restrictions on Russian and Belarusian officials, and the first sanctions against executives of Gazprombank — the institution through which most of Europe buys Russian gas.
“Taken together, today’s actions are a continuation of the systematic and methodical removal of Russia from the global financial and economic system. And the message is there will be no safe haven for the Russian economy if Putin’s invasion continues,” the senior administration official told reporters.
