Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is now underway, a move President Biden called “unprovoked and unjustified”. Russia attacked Ukraine with air and missile strikes, along with ground forces coming from three directions. Reports suggest Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, has also been attacked.
“It is a major move by Putin and an unwise one that the West has to counter,” said Steven Mann, the former U.S. Ambassador to Turkmenistan from 1998 to 2001.
Mann, who also served in other roles for the State Department, said he wants to see more sanctions.
“What comes now, I hope, is sanctions on a different scale,” Mann said. “I hope we see the sanctioning of all Russian banks. It’s time also to bring swift sanctions into play and very heavy tech sanctions against Russia.”
But, he added, sanctions can’t be the entire response.
“The West has to, and I’m sure is looking at, reinforcing the military defense of the Baltic States being open to assistance requests from the Government of Ukraine and of course, other potentially threatened governments like Georgia,” Mann said. “We can’t ask of sanctions more than sanctions can do.”
