Jeff Mason, Steve Holland

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – President Joe Biden is poised to announce harsher sanctions against Russia after Moscow launched an attack on Ukraine’s land, air, and sea. This triggered condemnation from America and its allies and led to financial penalties.

The White House announced that Biden would announce the changes at 12:30 p.m. ET (1830 GMT).

Biden had met earlier in the day with counterparts from Group of Seven allies to discuss more serious measures against Russia following President Vladimir Putin’s declaration of war against Ukraine.

Biden met with Volodymyr Zeleskiy, Ukrainian President, late Wednesday night. He also called his National Security Council to discuss the matter on Thursday.

He will announce the second tranche in sanctions against Russia, after Putin this week made two independent regions of Ukraine and sent troops.

After warning Moscow it would launch waves of sanctions if it continues to invade Ukraine, the United States issued a new round of Western sanctions.

Britain has announced new sanctions against Putin’s inner circle, banks and wealthy Londoners. Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of Boris Johnson stated before parliament that the leaders have agreed to cooperate to reduce Putin’s economic cost.

Washington imposed sanctions Tuesday on the Russian entity responsible for building Russia’s Nord Stream 2 oil pipeline. It also sanctioned on Tuesday two Russian financial institutions, Russian sovereign debt, as well as some Russian members and their families.

In cooperation with Western allies, the United States placed sanctions.

Biden faced domestic political pressure to impose sanctions on Putin before he invaded. If Russia invaded, the White House has not been afraid to negotiate and even agreed in principle to hold a summit between Putin and Biden.

Now, the President is the focal point of Western responses to Russian aggression. This comes at a moment when he faces low domestic poll numbers and rising inflation. There are also looming midterm election results that could see him lose control of the Senate or House of Representatives, which would be an opportunity for his fellow Democrats to become Republicans.

Although the White House warned Americans about the possibility of higher oil prices due to the conflict, it has taken steps to mitigate that risk. According to two sources, U.S. officials were working in collaboration with other nations on the release of more oil from their global strategic crude oils reserves.

Both parties represented in Congress and urged President Obama to quickly take tougher action against Russia. This included providing military assistance to Ukraine and imposing strict sanctions on Russia and export control. They also urged Russia to be expelled from all international organisations.

Senator Bob Menendez (Democratic chairman of the committee on foreign relations), stated that “this unprovoked attack” has highlighted the necessity to expel current Kremlin leaders from international communities. “Today should mark an historic shift in the global view and treatment of the Moscow despot.”