Indian-American economic adviser Daleep Singh is leading the Biden administration’s efforts to impose punitive sanctions on Russia for its actions against Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed decrees to recognize Ukraine’s “Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics” regions as “independent,” raising tension in the region and raising fears of an invasion of Ukraine by Moscow. He also ordered Russian troops into eastern Ukraine in what the Kremlin called a “peacekeeping” mission in Moscow-backed regions.
Singh, who is Deputy National Security Advisor for international economics and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council, made his second appearance in the White House Briefing Room in a matter of days.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said he is “back by popular demand” given the key role Singh is playing in this administration’s Russia policy.
“Russia’s long-anticipated invasion of Ukraine has begun, as has our response. Today, the President (Joe Biden) responded quickly and in unison with allies and partners. The speed and coordination were historic. He took weeks and months to mount a decisive response,” Singh told reporters in his opening remarks.
Singh said that after overnight consultations with Germany, Russia’s Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline will not be operational.
That’s an $11 billion investment in a prized Russian-controlled gas pipeline that will now go to waste and sacrifice what would have been a source of revenue for Russia’s coffers, he said.
It’s not just about the money, this decision will ease Russia’s geostrategic stranglehold on Europe through its gas supply, and is a major turning point in the world’s energy independence from Russia.
“Second, we have demonstrated the potency of our financial sanctions and make no mistake, this is just the sharp edge of the pain we can inflict.
“At the same time as our allies, we are completely blocked from the global financial system, the fifth largest Russian financial institution, VEB, is a glorified piggy bank for the Kremlin holding more than $50 billion in assets. We are also completely blocking Promsvyazbank, this is a bank that holds $35 billion in assets that finance the activities of the Russian military,” he told reporters.
Singh said a complete lockdown means these banks can no longer transact with the US or Europe, as Europe has matched US stocks, and their assets in the respective US financial systems will be frozen.
“And let me be totally clear, no Russian financial institution is safe if the invasion continues, we are ready to push a button to take action against the two largest Russian financial institutions, which collectively own almost $750 billion in assets for more than half. of the total in the Russian banking system,” Singh said.
“Third, together with our allies, we have also deprived the Russian government, the Russian Central Bank and the Russian Sovereign Wealth Funds of new funding from the US and Europe. The Kremlin can no longer raise money from the US or Europe and its new debt can no longer be traded on the US or European financial markets,” he said.
Fourth, the United States has fully sanctioned a group of Russian elites and their relatives. These individuals share in the Kremlin’s corrupt profits and will now share in the pain, Singh said.
Other Russian elites and their relatives are now informed that further action could be taken with them as well, he said.
“I also want to take a minute to address a key part of the President’s speech on energy markets. We were deliberate to direct the pain of our sanctions toward the Russian economy, not our own. None of our measures are designed to disrupt the flow of energy to global markets and we are now executing a plan in coordination with major oil producers and major oil consumers to ensure the stability of the global energy supply,” he said.
Singh said that this was the beginning of an invasion and this was the beginning of the American response.
“The actions we took today were just the first tranche. If Putin escalates further, we will escalate further using financial sanctions and export controls that we have yet to disclose, but are fully prepared to implement with allies,” he added.
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