Ukraine's president urges sanctions against Russia before possible invasion, not after

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Source: CBS News

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Western leaders gathered at a security conference in Munich on Saturday that he wants sanctions to be imposed against Russia before any potential invasion of his country, not after.

"You're telling me that it's 100% that the war will start in a couple of days. Then what [are you] waiting for?" Zelensky said. "We don't need your sanctions after the bombardment will happen, and after our country will be fired at or after we will have no borders or after we will have no economy or parts of our country will be occupied. Why would we need those sanctions then?"

"So when you're asking what can be done, well lots of different things can be done. We can even provide you the list. The most important is willingness," he said.

Earlier on Saturday, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris warned of financial penalties for Russia if it launches an invasion.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ukraines-president-urges-sanctions-against-russia-before-possible-invasion-not-after/ar-AAU4w31

[dchill]

1. You can't penalize an uncommitted crime.

[enid602]

4. Sanctions

We are applying sanctions to you immediately. These sanctions will be immediately reversed the second your assets are returned to Russia’s interior

[orangecrush]

22. +1

[wnylib]

17. You can act to stop a crime from

being committed when there is clear intent of the crime to come.

A man holds people at gun point, but has not fired at any of them. A cop comes along and orders him to put down the gun or face consequences. The cop has a gun on the man holding people hostage. Other armed cops in the vicinity do the same. When the hostage taker does not comply, the cops do not have to wait until someone is shot to take action.

[tecelote]

20. Begin Removing 190,000 troops from the border now or we inflict economic sanctions in three days.

Completely remove them in three weeks or we inflict economic sanctions

Makes sense.

[cstanleytech]

33. Not to mention the threat of sanctions could cause Putin to decide against starting a war.

[rso]

2. Ukraine

If the purpose is to do everything possible to deter Putin, then sanctions at this point don’t make sense.

[wnylib]

18. Sanctions for even daring to threaten Ukraine.

Sanctions in place now, to be removed if and when Putin pulls back his troops.

[dalton99a]

3. Putin doesn't care.

He knows Russia will not be unplugged from SWIFT, so he's good to go

[Raven123]

5. Sanctions now will be used by Putin as justification for an attack

[orangecrush]

24. He's going to do that anyway

A preemptive strike can do wonders.

[marie999]

26. How do we know that?

Why is he going to attack tomorrow or the next day if he hasn't already attacked?

[Akoto]

32. He's amassed an army right at their border. Every action, provocative. Occam's Razor decision. n/t

[Maraya1969]

6. The crime could be that they have surrounded Ukraine with their war toys. I agree that sanctions

should start now. Maybe Putin would back down if he started to feel the ramification of his actions beforehand.

[yaesu]

7. If the West has solid proof that the earlier cyber attack was a Russian government attack

I believe sanctions will be warranted per what US officials have already said. They have hinted that sanctions can come even before a conventional attack.

[Lonestarblue]

9. Plus, Russia has already attacked Ukraine with cyberattacks.

Cyber war meant to destabilize a country prior to a physical attack should be deemed a form of war. I know that’s a slippery slope, but Putin is violating another country’s sovereignty. Heavy and immediate sanctions may be the only way to stop him at this point. Why wait for a bunch of people to die?

[oldsoftie]

8. Totally agree. Reduce sanctions when the threat is reduced. Inflict pain now

Don't give them access to their money or markets.

[orangecrush]

23. +1

[onetexan]

37. +1 -K&R

[demosincebirth]

10. I think he is right. He has 100k troops at his door, they aren't there for a picnic, people!

[Cha]

11. I see his Point!

[Mike Nelson]

12. Hmm...

... I would not go ahead with sanctions, yet. Once they're done, the Russian dictator would have no reason to change direction. Instead, I would get sanctions ready... begin the steps... start the process... maybe a next level, but not the full sanctions.

[mahina]

15. Agreed!

I can only imagine the incredible stress he’s under but what he said moved Russia closer to invasion.

[fleabiscuit]

13. I don't particularly like Putin apologists. nt

[harumph]

14. Absolutely not.

Putin may attack either way - but he will attack for sure if sanctions are applied now
because NOT attacking will make him look weak. Basic psychology for small man complex.

[amuse bouche]

16. Why did Putin line up troops at the border, in the first place ?

Did he just decide to do it one day? I must have missed how this started. What does he want?

[oldsoftie]

25. NO REASON!!! Except for wanting the USSR again. And UKR has a LOT of things he needs

I mean, at least he made up reasons for Chechnya, Georgia & Crimea. But NONE for this.

[marie999]

27. He wants concessions. If he is ready to attack, he won't until all diplomacy fails.

[Evolve Dammit]

19. What about the kindergarten with the two foot hole in the wall? This has already started. WTF wait?

[Ghost Dog]

34. About this the OSCE monitors say:

On 17 February, the Mission followed up on reports of damage to a working kindergarten in
the north-western part of Stanytsia Luhanska (government-controlled, 16km north-east of
Luhansk), located about 4.5km north-west of the north-western edge of the disengagement area
near Stanytsia Luhanska.

At 22 Depovska Street, about 20m south-west of a two-storey kindergarten building, the SMM
observed a crater in the kindergarten playground, as well as marks assessed as caused by
shrapnel on the inner side of a concrete wall surrounding the building. Also, it observed a hole
(about 1m in diameter), and one shattered window on the north-eastern facade of the same
building, and two shattered windows on the building’s north-west facing wall (on its ground
and first floor).

The SMM assessed the damage as recent but was unable to determine the weapon used or the
direction of fire.

Staff from the Youth Affairs Department of the Stanytsia Luhanska Civil-Military
Administration told the Mission that 20 children had been in the kindergarten at the time of the
incident, but reported no injuries.

The SMM was only able to conduct its assessment from a distance of about 50m from the
north-eastern facade and of about 30m from the south-western facade of the damaged building,
as a law enforcement officer did not allow the Mission to access the site saying that an
investigation was ongoing.

https://www.osce.org/special-monitoring-mission-to-ukraine/512605

[Evolve Dammit]

35. Thanks for that. Scratching head. Don't think it was self-inflicted. Thankfully kids weren't killed

[roamer65]

21. Start ramping up the sanctions now.

First go after the rouble. Decimate it on world markets.

[marie999]

28. And he will attack.

[marie999]

29. Putin wants concessions.

If he is going to attack, he will wait for all diplomacy to fail. Hit him hard with sanctions and he will know that diplomacy has failed.

[kacekwl]

30. I agree

completely.

[DFW]

31. That gets dicey

It removes some of the west's leverage. Putin has no more reason to think we'll remove the sanctions if he withdraws than we think he'll call off the invasion if we threaten them. The best we can do credibly is lay out everything we can and will do the moment the invasion begins, and then do about 150% of it, i.e. all we said and more.

If it's coming, then it's coming. I think it would be a bad gamble to give Putin the chance to say, "might as well invade, what do I have left to lose now?"

Actually, he might have more to lose than he thinks. A Ukrainian friend was at our house for brunch today. He is a veteran of the Afghanistan conflict. He said (he is a Ukie patriot, so take this as a statement with some added bravado) that he was in a situation where 15 Ukranian soldiers held off an Afghan attacking force ten times their size after all the Russian soldiers had fled. He may have been exaggerating, but if that is the mentality of the Ukranian defenders, the Russian invaders will not have a cakewalk, and if Putin has too many body bags coming home, the Russians will not be eager to keep him on.

[oldsoftie]

38. There were stories of Russians tiring of the bodies coming back during the '14 attacks.

And THAT will be nothing compared to what they would suffer in this invasion

[Evolve Dammit]

36. To quote John McCain (loosely); We are all Ukrainians now." OK, it was Georgians. Same foe.