Any U.S. sanctions levied personally against President Vladimir V. Putin would not affect Russia’s course of action on Ukraine, the Kremlin spokesman said on Wednesday, brushing off President Biden’s statement that he would be willing to impose such penalties if Russian forces invaded Ukraine.
Diplomatic talks to resolve the crisis have yielded nothing but promises to keep talking, and while all sides say they want de-escalation, the war of words between Washington and Moscow is intensifying.
In that context, the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, said personal sanctions would be counterproductive, while having little financial effect. “It wouldn’t be painful politically — it would be destructive,” he said.
For weeks, the Biden administration has warned Russia that it would impose punishing economic sanctions if it invaded Ukraine. In a brief White House appearance on Tuesday, Mr. Biden gave what appeared to be an off-the-cuff response to a shouted question from a reporter about whether those penalties could directly target Mr. Putin. “Yes, I would see that,” the president said. He did not elaborate.
It is not clear exactly what moves Mr. Biden is weighing, or whether sanctions against Mr. Putin are even being actively considered.
But American openness to targeting the leader of a world power directly reflects the administration’s intent to deter Russian aggression by conveying the high costs it would incur — both for the nation and for Mr. Putin individually.
Russia has said it has no intention of invading Ukraine, despite amassing forces along the country’s borders to the north, east and south. Mr. Putin has not commented publicly on the crisis since Dec. 23, silence that has kept Western leaders unsure about his next move.
The Obama administration debated sanctions against Mr. Putin, but decided against them.
At a news conference last week, Mr. Biden said he expected that Russia would ultimately invade Ukraine. But he acknowledged on Tuesday how hard it is to read the Russian leader.
“I’ll be completely honest with you: It’s a little bit like reading tea leaves,” he said, according to a White House transcript. “Ordinarily, if it were a different leader — the fact that he continues to build forces along Ukraine’s border from Belarus all the way around — you’d say, ‘Well, that means that he is looking like he’s going to do something.’ But then you look at what his past behavior is and what everyone is saying in his team, as well as everyone else, as to what is likely to happen: It all comes down to his — his decision.”
Britain’s foreign secretary, Liz Truss, signaled on Wednesday that her government would also consider directly targeting Mr. Putin with sanctions. “We’re not ruling anything out,” she told Sky News.
Washington is expected to deliver a written response this week to Russian demands about NATO forces in Eastern Europe. But because Moscow has demanded that NATO forces essentially withdraw from the region — a request that American officials have described as a nonstarter — the path to a diplomatic solution is hard to see.
Both Russia and Western nations have stepped up military activity. Russia has held drills near the Ukrainian borders; the United States has placed 8,500 troops on high alert for deployment to Eastern Europe; NATO has increased deployments in the region; and some American allies have supplied weapons to the Ukrainian government.
On Wednesday, the diplomatic efforts shifted to Paris, where envoys of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France were expected to meet to set the groundwork for another meeting of the leaders of those nations. President Emmanuel Macron of France said he would speak to Mr. Putin by telephone on Friday.
In Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky continued to urge the public to remain calm.
“Protect your body from viruses, your brain from lies, your brain from lies, your heart from panic,” he told the nation in a video message.
David E. Sanger contributed reporting.
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