U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday announced sweeping export restrictions and other new sanctions in response to Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, delivering on an agreement reached by the Group of Seven countries to impose a "severe" punishment on Moscow.
Speaking in Washington, Biden slammed Russian President Vladimir Putin for "choosing a war without a cause" and said the sanctions, imposed in lockstep with countries including Japan, will make the Russian president "a pariah on the international stage."
According to the U.S. government, the export control measures will cut off more than half of Russia's high-tech imports, severely restricting the country's access to technologies and other items it needs to sustain "aggressive military capabilities."