WASHINGTON — Tuesday’s statement by President Joe Biden that Russia had “invaded” Ukraine was followed by announcing sweeping sanctions against a Russian bank VEB as well as its military bank.

American financial institutions will be prohibited from processing VEB transactions and military bank transactions. The banks would be effectively unable to process transactions that involve U.S. Dollars, the global reserve currency. 

Biden stated that America will also sanction Russia’s sovereign debt.

Biden announced his decision after Russia’s parliament approved Tuesday’s President Vladimir Putin’s request for military force to operate outside its borders. It appears that this was intended to enable a larger attack on Ukraine.

However, Biden hadn’t used “invasion” to describe Russian military operations in eastern Ukraine until Tuesday.

Biden promised that Russia would face severe sanctions if Moscow invades Ukraine again, although the White House did not specify what these economic sanctions would look like.

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