U.S. President Joe Biden during a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. File photoMOSCOW, Jan 20The administration of US President Joe Biden has a lot of powerful levers to put pressure on the Russian economy, but it is unlikely to start using them so as not to bring things to a big trouble, Viktor Supyan, head of the scientific direction of the Institute of the USA and Canada, told RIA Novosti. January 20, 2022 is coming to an end first year of Biden's presidency. The bill, introduced in January by senators from the ruling Democratic Party, proposes to impose painful sanctions against key sectors of the Russian economy, public debt and top government officials in the event of an escalation in the situation around Ukraine.
"Puffing out your cheeks and saying that we don't care about anti-Russian sanctions is wrong. This position has nothing to do with reality. Joe Biden, who has been in power for exactly a year, has a lot of powerful levers to put pressure on the Russian economy. Another thing is that he, as an experienced person, is unlikely to sharply aggravate relations with Moscow, which can lead to big trouble. If shooting starts, no one will definitely win", Supyan said.
At the same time, he stressed that «for the first time, Washington calls its sanctions lethal (high impact), since their introduction will directly hit not only state corporations, authorities or oligarchs, but, above all, the population of Russia.»
Biden threatened Russia with «never seen» sanctions. The first on the list of sanctions, according to him, is Russia's disconnection from the international financial system SWIFT. «This is a really strong blow that will disorganize the entire system of foreign economic relations between Russia and the West. It is not clear, for example, how they will pay us for gas and oil supplies. Of course, this measure will also hit Western countries. But for them, such a blow will be less painful, they are ready for the costs,» Supyan believes. The second very serious anti-Russian measure, according to the head of the scientific direction of the Institute of the USA and Canada, is a ban on working with Russian securities, with Russian government debt. «This means that we will not be able to sell our bonds on foreign markets. Thus, Russia will be isolated, cut off from world financial markets, from foreign investment, which the country badly needs,» he said.
Biden expressed fears due to the proximity of a «full-scale nuclear war» The third measure, which will hit the population extremely hard, first of all, Supyan called a ban on the sale of components for household and electronic equipment — refrigerators, cars, smartphones and other gadgets. “After all, the entire consumer market of Russia is based on these components. Imagine that tomorrow the United States will stop supplying electronics for foreign refrigerators or for cars that are assembled in Russia, this means that all these enterprises will stop, and the consumer market for home appliances will begin to decline rapidly until It won’t come to naught at all,” Supyan said. He considers a ban on Visa and Mastercard bank cards in Russia to be a completely possible measure, which Russians will also feel: “No one will be able to use them for payment, all these cards will be blocked.” However, Supyan believes that Washington will not resort to all these extreme measures. “The United States does not want an aggravation of relations with Russia. They understand that it is fraught with terrible, grave consequences for both sides. Biden is aware that mutually acceptable compromises must be sought. perish or learn to coexist peacefully,” he concluded.