Biden freezes personal assets of Putin in rare step

The Biden administration has taken the rare step of freezing the personal assets of Russian leader, President Vladimir Putin.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that imposing sanctions on Putin “sends a clear message about the strength of the opposition to the actions by President Putin and the direction in his leadership of the Russian military.”

The sanctions are a provocative step but are also largely symbolic given that it’s unclear where Putin’s wealth resides. The status of Putin’s financial holdings has been cloaked in mystery and his money is not believed to be held in the United States.

Although the US has sanctioned and frozen the assets of some Russian oligarchs, targeting Putin directly is an unusual move. It puts him in similar company with Syrian President Bashar Assad and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, both of whom have been subjected to personal sanctions by the US government.

Jen Psaki, White House press secretary, said Friday that imposing sanctions on Putin “sends a clear message about the strength of the opposition to the actions by President Putin and the direction in his leadership of the Russian military.”

Psaki said the sanctions will also apply to Lavrov and Russian national security officials. The decision was made in the past 24 hours after consultation with European leaders, Psaki said. Yet, unlike Europe and Britain, which did not impose a travel ban on the officials, the Biden administration is expected to prevent Putin from traveling to the United States.

Psaki would not comment on what impact she believed the sanctions would have on Putin’s wealth but underscored that it was a demonstration of unity in opposition to his actions.

Adam Smith, a former Treasury Department official who is now a partner at the law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, said the sanctions on Putin are a significant messaging tool because the United States has never taken such an action against the leader of such a powerful country. However, he said that the sanctions were unlikely to affect Putin’s wealth or change his calculus in Ukraine.

“I don’t think Putin is really going to lose much sleep on being sanctioned,” Smith said.