Kamala Harris Promises “Unprecedented” Sanctions if Russia Invades Ukraine

The vice president met Saturday with Ukraine’s president in Munich.

US Vice President Kamala Harris with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on SaturdayAndrew Harnik/AP

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

In an address to the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Vice President Kamala Harris said that the attendees had convened amid the most “dire circumstances” since “the end of the Cold War,” and warned that the United States and its allies would impose “swift” and “severe” penalties on Russia if its government goes ahead with an attack on Ukrainian territory.

“We will impose far-reaching financial sanctions and export controls, we will target Russia’s financial institutions and key industries, and we will target those who are complicit and those who aid and abet this unprovoked invasion,” said Harris, who reiterated the administration’s position that “our forces will not be deployed to fight inside Ukraine, but they will defend every inch of NATO territory.”

Harris was joined in Germany by a bipartisan congressional delegation, and met afterwards with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In recent days, the tensions over Ukraine have intensified, with Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine reportedly ordering residents to evacuate the region, and Putin conducting tests of ballistic systems.

Harris’ comments came just a day after President Joe Biden, speaking from the White House, said he is “convinced” that Russian president Vladimir Putin has decided to order troops to invade Ukraine, but implored him to “de-escalate and return to the negotiating table.”

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate