It’s Wednesday.
I haven’t been alone in days…
President Biden hadn’t tweeted when Tuesday’s Biden Bits was posted. He ended up giving himself a Tuesday Tweeting Total of 12 tweets and 0 retweets.
ESPN reported on Tuesday that; Players from the United States women’s national team have settled their class action equal pay lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) for a total of $24 million, the two sides announced in a court filing on Tuesday.
They also explain that the payout of the settled lawsuit hinges on; a new collective bargaining agreement being ratified by the players on the USWNT. Once this takes place, final approval of the settlement by the District Court will be scheduled. According to a statement from the players, “This will fully resolve the litigation.”
Originally the players had sought $66.7 million in back pay.
I don’t really know much beyond what ESPN told me…
But I saw this tweet and it made me laugh…
They don’t deserve equal pay, they deserve MORE pay. The men can’t win a game, while the women win championships. Why should the men get equal pay?!
— Alex Thayer (@alexthayer_arky) February 22, 2022
*snort*…
The YouTube is 9 minutes and 15 seconds long. His full remarks can be found here.
We are implementing full blocking sanctions on two large Russian financial institutions — VEB and their military bank. And we are implementing comprehensive sanctions on Russian sovereign debt.
— President Biden (@POTUS) February 22, 2022
That means we’ve cut off the Russian government from western financing.
— President Biden (@POTUS) February 22, 2022
It can no longer raise money from the west — and cannot trade its new debt in our markets or European markets.
Starting tomorrow — and continuing in the days ahead — we will also be imposing sanctions on Russian elites and their family members.
— President Biden (@POTUS) February 22, 2022
They share in the corrupt gains of the Kremlin’s policies and should share in the pain as well.
Because of Russia’s actions, we’ve worked with Germany to ensure Nord Stream 2 will not move forward.
— President Biden (@POTUS) February 22, 2022
President Biden: So, today, I’m announcing the first tranche of sanctions to impose costs on Russia in response to their actions yesterday. These have been closely coordinated with our Allies and partners, and we’ll continue to escalate sanctions if Russia escalates.
President Biden: We’re implementing full blocking sanctions on two large Russian financial institutions: V.E.B. and their military bank. We’re implementing comprehensive sanctions on Russian sovereign debt. That means we’ve cut off Russia’s government from Western financing. It can no longer raise money from the West and cannot trade in its new debt on our markets or European markets either.
President Biden: Starting tomorrow [today] and continuing in the days ahead, we will also impose sanctions on Russia’s elites and their family members. They share in the corrupt gains of the Kremlin policies and should share in the pain as well.
President Biden: And because of Russia’s actions, we’ve worked with Germany to ensure Nord Stream 2 will not — as I promised — will not move forward.
President Biden: As we respond, my administration is using every tool at our disposal to protect American businesses and consumers from rising prices at the pump. As I said last week, defending freedom will have costs for us as well, here at home. We need to be honest about that. But as we will do — but as we do this, I’m going to take robust action and make sure the pain of our sanctions is targeted at the Russian economy, not ours. We are closely monitoring energy supplies for any disruption. We’re executing a plan in coordination with major oil-producing consumers and producers toward a collective investment to secure stability and global energy supplies. This will be — this will blunt gas prices. I want to limit the pain the American people are feeling at the gas pump. This is critical to me.
President Biden: At every step, we have shown that the United States and our Allies and partners are working in unison — which he hasn’t been counting on — Mr. Putin. We’re united in our support of Ukraine. We’re united in our opposition to Russian aggression. And we’re united in our resolve to defend our NATO Alliance. And we’re united in our understanding of the urgency and seriousness of the threat Russia is making to global peace and stability.
The video is 49 seconds long.
President Biden: Who in the Lord’s name does Putin think gives him the right to declare new so-called countries on territory that belonged to his neighbors? This is a flagrant violation of international law, and it demands a firm response from the international community. Over the last few months, we have coordinated closely with our NATO Allies and partners in Europe and around the world to prepare that response. We’ve said all along and I’ve told Putin to his face a mon- — a month a- — more than a month ago that we would act together and the moment Russia moved against Ukraine. Russia has now undeniably moved against Ukraine by declaring these independent states. So, today, I’m announcing the first tranche of sanctions to impose costs on Russia in response to their actions yesterday. These have been closely coordinated with our Allies and partners, and we’ll continue to escalate sanctions if Russia escalates.
President Biden: So, today, I’m announcing the first tranche of sanctions to impose costs on Russia in response to their actions yesterday. These have been closely coordinated with our Allies and partners, and we’ll continue to escalate sanctions if Russia escalates. We’re implementing full blocking sanctions on two large Russian financial institutions: V.E.B. and their military bank. We’re implementing comprehensive sanctions on Russian sovereign debt. That means we’ve cut off Russia’s government from Western financing. It can no longer raise money from the West and cannot trade in its new debt on our markets or European markets either. Starting tomorrow [today] and continuing in the days ahead, we will also impose sanctions on Russia’s elites and their family members. They share in the corrupt gains of the Kremlin policies and should share in the pain as well. And because of Russia’s actions, we’ve worked with Germany to ensure Nord Stream 2 will not — as I promised — will not move forward.
The White House published the following fact-sheet on the; United States Imposes First Tranche of Swift and Severe Costs on Russia
Yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin of Russia recognized two regions of Ukraine as independent states and today claimed that recognition to include all of the Donbas region. The Russian Parliament also authorized the deployment of additional Russian forces into this Ukrainian territory.
As President Biden and our Allies and partners have made clear, we will impose significant costs on Russia for Russia’s actions. Today, the Administration is implementing the first tranche of sanctions that go far beyond 2014, in coordination with allies and partners in the European Union, United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, and Australia. And as President Biden promised, we worked with Germany to ensure the Nord Stream 2 pipeline will not move forward.
The President has directed the following measures:
White House.gov. 02/22/2022.
- Full blocking sanctions on two significant Russian financial institutions. The Secretary of the Treasury will impose full blocking sanctions on two large state-owned Russian financial institutions that provide key services crucial to financing the Kremlin and the Russian military: Vnesheconombank and Promsvyazbank and their subsidiaries. Collectively, these institutions hold more than $80 billion in assets and finance the Russian defense sector and economic development. These measures will freeze their assets in the United States, prohibit U.S. individuals and businesses from doing any transactions with them, shut them out of the global financial system, and foreclose access to the U.S. dollar.
- Expanded sovereign debt prohibitions restricting U.S. individuals and firms from participation in secondary markets for new debt issued by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the National Wealth Fund of the Russian Federation, and the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation. These prohibitions will cut off the Russian government from a key avenue by which it raises capital to fund its priorities and will increase future financing costs. It denies Russia access to key U.S. markets and investors.
- Full blocking sanctions on five Russian elites and their family members: Aleksandr Bortnikov (and his son, Denis), Sergei Kiriyenko (and his son, Vladimir), and Promsvyazbank CEO Petr Fradkov. These individuals and their relatives directly benefit from their connections with the Kremlin. Other Russian elites and their family members are on notice that additional actions could be taken against them.
- Today, the Secretary of the Treasury will determine that any institution in the financial services sector of the Russian Federation economy is a target for further sanctions. Over 80% of Russia’s daily foreign exchange transactions globally are in U.S. dollars and roughly half of Russia’s international trade is conducted in dollars. With this action,no Russian financial institution is safe from our measures, including the largest banks.
These actions come in addition to steps being taken by our Allies and partners and represent our first response to Russia’s actions. As President Biden made clear, Russia will pay an even steeper price if it continues its aggression.
White House.gov. 02/22/2022.
The White House also published the back ground press call with a Senior Admin Official:
Yeah, thanks. Yes, I’ll make a few comments at the top and then happy to answer any of your questions.
So, Russia’s long-previewed invasion of Ukraine has now begun, and our response has also begun.
Today, we responded swiftly and in a united fashion with our Allies and partners. The speed and coordination of the response was historic. We announced our first tranche of sanctions in less than a day with Allies and partners from the European Union, from the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, and Australia.
This response was taken much faster and goes much further than what we did in 2014.
Let me say a few words about the details of the package. First, after consultations overnight with Germany, Russia’s Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline will not become operational. That’s an $11 billion investment and a prized gas pipeline controlled by Russia that will now go to waste, and it sacrifices what would have been a cash cow for Russia’s financial coffers.
But it’s not just about the money. This decision will relieve Russia’s geostrategic chokehold over Europe through its supply of natural gas, and it’s a major turning point in the world’s energy independence from Russia.
Second, we’ve made a demonstration of the power of our financial sanctions. And make no mistake, this is only the sharp edge of the pain we can inflict.
So, again, in lockstep with our Allies, we’re fully blocking from the U.S. and European financial systems the fifth-largest Russian financial firm, which is V.E.B. — a glorified piggy bank for the Kremlin that holds more than $50 billion in assets.
And we’re also fully blocking a $35 billion bank, Promsvyazbank, that finances the activities of the Russian military.
In plain English, the full block of these banks means they can no longer make any transactions with the U.S. or Europe, and their assets in our respective financial systems are frozen.
And let me be totally clear: No Russian financial institution is safe if this invasion proceeds. We are ready to press a button to take further action on the very largest Russian financial institutions, including Sperbank and VTB, which collectively hold almost $750 billion in assets — or more than half the total in Russia as a whole.
Third, together with our Allies, we’ve also cut off the Russian government, the Russian Central Bank, and its sovereign wealth funds from U.S. financing. Europe has taken a very similar measure. That means the Kremlin can no longer raise money from the U.S. and Europe, and its new debt can no longer trade in U.S. or European markets.
Fourth, we have fully sanctioned a group of Russian elites and their family members. These individuals have shared in the corrupt gains of the Kremlin, and they will now share in the pain. Other Russian elites and their family members are now on notice that additional actions could be taken on them as well.
Let me also just take a minute to address a key part of the President’s speech on energy. We were quite deliberate to make sure that the pain of our sanctions is targeted at the Russian economy, not ours. So none of the measures are designed to disrupt the flow of energy to global markets, and we are now executing a plan in coordination with major oil consumers and oil producers towards our collective interest to secure the stability of global energy supplies.
White House.gov. 02/22/2022.
He shared a tweet regarding remarks he gave on “securing critical mineral supply chains”, just after his 5 tweets regarding Russia sanctions.
The YouTube is 29 minutes and 50 seconds long. His full remarks can be found here.
For Wednesday, February 23rd, 2022, President Biden has received his daily brief. There is nothing else on his schedule so far for Wednesday.
President Biden has not tweeted so far for Wednesday.
The daily press briefing is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. D.C., time.
This is an Open Thread.
