US President Joe Biden said Washington and its allies were “inflicting pain” on Russia and its president Vladimir Putin, as he announced further moves in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine on Tuesday, MIA news agency informs.
“Putin is now isolated from the world more than ever,” he said. The United States is closing its airspace to Russian aircraft over the Ukraine invasion, Biden said.
“We will join our allies in closing off American airspace to all Russian flights – further isolating Russia,” Biden said in his State of the Union address.
The move follows similar measures imposed by the European Union and Canada. Russian aviation authority Rosaviatsiya in response announced that it was closing Russian airspace to 35 countries.
“When dictators do not pay a price for their aggression they cause more chaos,” Biden said.
In addition to announcing the US would close off American airspace to Russian flights, he said the US Department of Justice was assembling a task force focused on pursuing criminal activities of Russian oligarchs.
He said it would work with European allies to seize yachts, luxury apartments and “ill-begotten gains” of Russian oligarchs.
He repeated that US forces would not fight Russian forces on the ground in Ukraine, but rather defend NATO allies in the event that Putin decides to push on further west past Ukraine.
