United States of America
Overall Score
Details
B+
On Track
Accomplishments:
- In absolute numbers, the US is the largest provider of military support to Ukraine.
- American efforts were crucial in financial and institutional isolation of Russia.
Drawbacks:
- The US has failed to address some of Ukraine's key challenges, including provision of air support.
- The US has restrained from full diplomatic isolation of Russia.
Condemnation
Military Support
Providing military support for Ukraine, composed of four key categories:
- Ground Forces Support (e.g. small arms, defensive equipment, anti-tank)
- Air Defense Support
- Communications Support
- Cyber Intelligence Support
Accomplishments:
- Announced $13.6 bn in humanitarian and military aid.
- In total, more than $3.4 bn in military aid has been sent to Ukraine since Russia invaded on 24 February.
- President Biden siged a bill on lend-lease for arms supplies to Ukraine.
Drawbacks:
- Ukrainians appeal to US and NATO allies to close the airspace (to declare a no-fly zone) over Ukraine to prevent Russian aviation from attacking Ukrainian territory.
Financial & Institutional Sanctions
Identifying sanctions impacting the Russian economy as a whole, including banks, sovereign debt, industry, access to global markets, etc.
- Sanctioned major Russian banks along with their subsidiaries, forcing over 70 financial institutions and 30 banks to transact in dollars.
- Prohibited transactions with Central Bank of Russia, and imposed sanctions on a key Russian sovereign wealth fund, the Russian Direct Investment Fund.
- Froze 8.45% of Russia's foreign exchange reserves, kept in the States.
- Cut off major Russian banks from the SWIFT bank messaging system.
Sanctions on Oligarchs, Kleptocrats, & Western Enablers
Sanctions on individuals in Putin's inner circle including:
- exposing & seizing their assets
- revoking their visas
- holding them legally accountable where possible
The goal is to convince these individuals that their futures would be better without Putin than with him.
- Sanctoned 352 Russian individuals since the onset of the war, including 328 members of the Duma legislative body and Putin's daugters.
However,
- More oligarchs and kleptoctarts are to follow.
Diplomatic Isolation
Measures taken to isolate Russia diplomatically (e.g. recall of ambassadors & diplomats, stripping Russia of its G20 membership, etc)
- The US has ordered 12 Russian UN diplomats suspected of espionage to leave by March 7.
- On March 24, President Biden has said that he supports expelling Russia from the Group of 20 Nations (G-20).
- Bank of America blocked the accounts of part of the Russian diplomatic missions in the United States.
However:
- No measures have been taken against diplomats of the Russian embassy in the US.
- The US could publicly advocate depriving Russia of the UN Security Council's permanent membership.
Propaganda
Combatting Putin's global propaganda network. While respecting freedom of speech, Putin should not be allowed to spread disinformation while Russia bans every single independent outlet. This measures countries' success in curbing Russian disinformation spread through Russia Today and other platforms.
- RT America ceased productions after being dropped by major U.S. distributors.
At the same time,
- The US cannot directly ban RT or any medium because of the First Amendment.
- As Kremlin-linked media continue to spread disinformation to a US audience via social media, Big Tech could be pressured to undertake measures against Putin's propaganda machine.
Replace Russian Energy
Replacing Russian energy exports with alternative energy sources. That includes increasing production and opening new sources from fracking to nuclear to renewables.
- Imposed sanctions against the operator of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
- Announced that the US will ban all imports of Russian oil, natural gas, and coal in response to Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
However,
- U.S. ban on Russian energy imports does not include uranium.