The
Biden administration announced Friday it would join the
European Union in directly sanctioning President Vladimir Putin, as
Russian forces continued a brutal invasion of Ukraine, threatening to take over the capital city of Kyiv.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that following a conversation with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the U.S. would join European allies in sanctioning Putin, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other members of the Russian national security team.
The Biden administration has been ratcheting up sanctions against Moscow over the past few days, working in coordination with European allies to take measures in hopes of deterring Putin from launching a wide-scale attack against Ukraine.