The Kremlin warns that sanctions on Putin would be “destructive”

The Kremlin, already with the answer to their requests in hand, has not ruled on the long-awaited American response. In the event of a conflict, Russia hopes that the sanctions announced by the U.S are not addressed directly to the president Vladimir Putin, a possibility that would have been considered in the enormous combination of measures to be applied in the event of an attack by Russia on neighboring Ukraine. This was stressed yesterday by the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, recalling that the US congressmen and senators who value sanctions ignore the fact that the top Russian leaders are already legally prohibited from disposing of assets abroad, as well as properties and bank accounts .

Speaking of President Putin, Peskov stated that if individual sanctions were applied against the head of the Kremlin, these would not be painful, but “politically destructive”, very much in tune with his statements a few days ago in which he stated that if they materialize they would mean the breaking of diplomatic relations with the West. US President Joe Biden said he would consider imposing personal sanctions on Putin himself, and the UK said it would not rule out doing the same.

Ukraine, meanwhile, is still waiting with the normality of recent weeks. The population in the capital, Kiev, does not fully believe that a Russian attack will take place within its borders. His foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, confirmed that Russian forces and troops across the border have not increased in number in recent days, not having enough forces to carry out a large-scale offensive, at least not yet.

In the midst of all the accumulated tension, the party in power, United Russia, which holds the majority in the Russian Parliament, asked the country’s government and Vladimir Putin to send weapons to the self-proclaimed independent republics in eastern Ukraine (Lugansk and Donetsk) to “contain the aggression” of Kiev, in a speech by the head of the ruling faction, Vladimir Vasiliev, broadcast on Russian television yesterday afternoon. “We held consultations on the issue and reached an agreement that we cannot leave the people at the mercy of the Kiev regime,” Vasiliev declared, referring to the thousands of Russians living in the conflict zone, with “an appeal to the leaders of the country to provide assistance to the Lugansk and Donetsk republics in the form of war material to contain the aggression of Kiev”.