Rubio introduces bill that would directly sanction Putin if Russia invades Ukraine

As tensions between Moscow and the West continue to grow in what Russian officials are calling a new Cuban missile crisis, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio introduced the Deterring Authoritarian Hostilities Act of 2022 on Friday.

According to a press release, the bill would impose “immediate and harsh personal sanctions” on Russian President Vladimir Putin and other top Kremlin leadership if Russian troops invade Ukraine.

Unlike previous legislation, however, Rubio’s bill would directly impose sanctions on Putin and on the sectors of the Russian economy that he uses to personally enrich himself.

Furthermore, the legislation would not depend on the Biden administration to decide what constitutes an incursion into Ukraine.

“A core part of any strategy to force Vladimir Putin to back down is to make the consequences of an invasion extremely painful for the oligarchs that prop up his control of Russia,” Rubio said. “President Biden does not seem to understand that America must project strength and resolve, not weakness. I urge my Senate colleagues to work with me to pass this bill before it is too late.” 

Hope for a diplomatic resolution between Russia and the West is beginning to dwindle as the Russia-U.S. negotiations in Geneva and a subsequent NATO-Russia meeting appear to have failed, as Washington and its allies refuse to bend to Moscow’s demand to halt NATO expansion further into Eastern Europe.

In an interview with Russian RTVI TV, Ryabkov noted that “it all depends on the action by our U.S. counterparts,” pointing to Putin's warning that Moscow could take military-technical measures if the U.S. increases military pressure.

Putin previously expressed concern that NATO could use Ukraine for the deployment of missiles capable of reaching Moscow and asserted that Russian warships armed with Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles could offer the Kremlin a similar advantage if deployed in neutral waters.

Zircon, which Putin said flies at nine times the speed of sound to a range of more than 620 miles, is hard to intercept and could be fitted with conventional or nuclear warheads.