According to people familiar with the matter for Bloomberg, the Biden administration is pressing its European partners to impose these sanctions, because Russian President Vladimir Putin has shown no sign of withdrawing the thousands of troops he has amassed near the Russian-Ukrainian border.
These developments come more than a week after the US President met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on the crisis in Ukraine.
The United States believes, according to the same sources, that the agreement on specific sanctions will send a strong signal to the Russian president.
This move is under consideration, according to people familiar with the discussions, and is based on multiple conversations that have taken place between the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy, as well as with the European Union.
EU countries say moving too quickly to outline these sanctions could undermine efforts to resolve the crisis through diplomatic means.
But the United States believes that the package of sanctions must be ready in order for efforts to deter Russia to be credible, according to the same sources for Bloomberg.
One of the sources said that the United States and the major Western European countries are trying to strike a balance between appearing to carry out their threats, while maintaining diplomatic dialogue.
Final details of the sanctions proposals are still being prepared, and officials are still assessing the potential economic and legal impact of measures to be implemented in the event of a Russian invasion.
European countries, which depend more on Russia for energy and other imports than the United States, also worry about the impact of some measures on major commodities and their economies.
The prospect of Putin cutting gas exports, as Russia provides about 40 percent of European supplies, worries Europeans.
The United States has pushed Germany to agree to halt the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia in the event of an invasion of Ukraine. But the new government in Berlin made no public commitment to this.
Bloomberg sources said that some of the possible steps on the list, excluding Russia from the global system of remittances SWIFT.
It also includes adding more individuals to the existing sanctions list and ending visa-free travel for diplomatic passport holders.
“Serious consequences”
Meanwhile, European leaders, during their summit in Brussels on Thursday, issued a joint warning to Russia of “serious consequences and a high price” in the event of its invasion of Ukraine.
European leaders approved a declaration in which they affirmed their “full support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Any new attempt of aggression against Ukraine will have dire consequences and a heavy price.”
The declaration called on Russia to “de-escalate the tension caused by military buildup” along its border with Ukraine and to engage in diplomatic talks through a mechanism established primarily with the participation of Paris, Berlin and Kiev.
The announcement stressed that a possible invasion would be “highly expensive, including sanctions coordinated with partners.”
Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission President, said Friday that the European Union is ready to impose expensive sanctions on Russia if it invades Ukraine..
“Without any doubt, if Russia acts against Ukraine, the EU will be in a position to impose sanctions that could come at a huge cost. We have done our work on this,” von der Leyen told a news conference after a summit of EU leaders in Brussels.“.
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