US prepared to sanction Russian elites close to Putin

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin (Reuters) 

The United States and its allies have prepared a list of Russian elites in or near Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle to hit with economic sanctions should Russia invade Ukraine, a senior administration official said on Monday.   

“The individuals we have identified are in or near the inner circles of the Kremlin and play a role in government decision making or are at a minimum complicit in the Kremlin’s destabilizing behavior,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.   

The United States has developed specific sanctions packages for both Russian elites who meet the criteria and their family members, and these efforts are being pursued in coordination with U.S. allies and partners, the official said.   
Targeting Russian oligarchs is only one part of a plan by the United States and its allies to punish Putin should he launch an invasion of Ukraine after massing tens of thousands of troops on the Ukraine border. Russia denies that it plans to invade Ukraine.   

President Joe Biden has not ruled out putting sanctions on Putin himself.   

U.S. officials have already detailed other penalties that include sanctions on Russian financial institutions and export control measures that could attempt to choke off broad swaths of industrial and consumer technologies to Russia.   

The official would not provide names of Russian figures who could be sanctioned. 

WASHINGTON, Jan 31 (Reuters)