JOE Biden’s sanctions on Russia will not stop Vladimir Putin’s troops from invading Ukraine and his empty threats make America look weak on the world stage, an expert says.
Europe is standing at the precipice of conflict as Putin declared the Ukrainian provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk "independent" and Russian tanks have since rolled in.
President Biden imposed sanctions on the separatist regions that effectively cuts off trade, finance, and investment to the provinces.
They are thought to be separate from the raft of punitive measures Washington is expected to impose amid Russia's incursion.
Geopolitical expert Brandon J Weichert told The Sun that sanctions only work as a deterrent.
He said: “They're basically the effectiveness of an antibiotic that has been overused.
“Sanctions have been abused for too long. America looks passive, we look weak and Biden looks bad.”
The commander-in-chief sensationally told the American people Friday that he believed Putin had already decided to invade Ukraine.
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Weichert slammed the president, comparing him to a “football commentator passively watching the game”.
Biden said: “We have reason to believe that Russian forces are planning and intend to attack Ukraine in the coming week, in the coming days.”
The president said he was “convinced” Putin had already made the decision.
In a stern warning to Moscow, he said the US and its allies are willing to “defend every inch” of NATO territory.
It comes as fears are mounting that tensions in Ukraine could produce the most critical moment since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.
The flashpoint is believed to be the closest the world came to a nuclear war.
Putin ordered forces into eastern Ukraine – a move which antagonized western leaders.
Maria Zakharova, of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Western “hysteria” over Russia’s recognition of self-declared republics was “predictable but not constructive”, according to state media.
She added: “Nothing constructive, just intimidation.”
Russia-backed shelling has also intensified in Eastern Ukraine following Putin's declaration.
But, separatists claimed that Ukrainian forces conducted several rounds against residents in Donetsk.
Taras Kuzio, a Ukrainian political expert and research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, told The Sun that sending “peacekeepers” marks the first stage of the incursion.
He added that the second stage of the incursion would likely involve ships landing at Ukraine’s southern coast.
Kuzio feared that the third and final stage could see a puppet regime installed in Kyiv.
WESTERN 'HYSTERIA'
Putin rebuffed speculation that Russia wants to restore its former empire during a sit-down meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
The strongman claimed that Russia supports the sovereignty of its neighbors.
And, he claimed that Ukraine was an “exception”, alleging it’s an “external influence”.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US Ambassador to the UN, said Putin “has put before the world a choice”.
She added that “history tells us that looking the other way in the face of such hostility will be a far more costly path”.
Thomas-Greenfield said: “President Putin is testing our international system. He is testing our resolves and seeing just how far he can push us all.
“He wants to demonstrate that through force he can make a farce of the UN. We must act together in response to this crisis.”
She branded an attack on Ukraine an attack on the sovereignty of every United Nations member state.
Meanwhile, US diplomat Bathsheba Neil Crocker warned that US intel has “credible information” that Russian forces are drawing up a kill list of Ukrainians to be killed or sent to camps.
She said it would include Russian and Belarusian dissidents in exile, journalists as well as religious minorities, and LGBTQI persons.
The ambassador warned that Kremlin forces “would likely target those who oppose Russian actions”.
Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov slammed her claims, adding: “That is a lie. This is absolute fiction, there is no such list. It’s fake.”
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