Warns US Of Sanctions Against President Vladimir Putin, Kremlin: Not Painful, But Politically Damaging

President Joe Biden and President Vladimir Putin meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. (Wikimedia Commons/Kremlin.ru)

JAKARTA - The Kremlin said the possible personal sanctions that the United States would impose on Russian President Vladimir Putin would not be painful but would be damaging.

The matter of personal sanctions came when US President Joe Biden answered reporters' questions about possible sanctions if Russia invaded Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the threat of sanctions would not hurt President Putin personally. However, it is politically destructive.

"Individual sanctions against President Putin are not painful (but) politically damaging," said Peskov, who previously said the sanctions would amount to severing diplomatic ties.

Peskov further said that members of Congress and US senators discussing personal sanctions against Russia's top leaders were unaware of the fact that they are legally prohibited from holding assets, property and bank accounts abroad.

Commenting on calls to freeze President Putin's assets, Dmitry Peskov said the Russian president kept money in the already sanctioned Rossiya Bank, citing Sputnik News.

To note, President Biden said on Tuesday that personal sanctions against President Putin, although a rare move, could be considered part of a concerted effort by the United States and its allies to convince Moscow that any new aggression against Ukraine would inflict heavy and swift losses.

Speaking to reporters, President Biden was asked if he would see himself imposing sanctions directly on President Putin if Russia invaded Ukraine.

"Yes," he answered. "I'll see," President Biden continued.

Direct US sanctions against foreign leaders are rare. Others who have faced sanctions include Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro, Syria's Bashar al-Assad and Libya's Muammer Gaddafi.

President Biden said Tuesday he could deploy US troops in the near future, but ruled out a unilateral US troop deployment to Ukraine, which is not a NATO member.

"There will be no American troops moving into Ukraine," he stressed.

It is known, the Pentagon has alerted about 8,500 US troops in Europe and the United States to be ready to deploy to the eastern wing of NATO if needed.

So far, NATO has around 4,000 troops in multinational battalions in Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland, supported by tank, air defense and intelligence and surveillance units.