Ukraine Invasion: Kamala Harris Threatens Putin with ‘Significant and Unprecedented’ Consequences

Vice President Kamala Harris publicly warned Vladimir Putin of the “swift and severe” consequences he will face if Russia further invades Ukraine and branded him a “lying propagandist” after a car bomb destroyed a pipeline forcing the evacuation of  700,000.

In a speech early today at the Munich Security Conference, Harris said the United States and its allies were prepared to impose significant and unprecedented economic costs on Russia if it further invades Ukraine, Reuters reported. 

“Let me be clear, I can say with absolute certainty, if Russia further invades Ukraine, the United States together with our allies and partners will impose significant and unprecedented economic costs,” Harris said at the annual conference of the world’s top national security officials.

The Vice President said the US and its allies has tried to engage with Russia to find diplomatic solution but their effort have not been met by the Kremlin in good faith.

“Russia continues to say it is ready to talk while at the same time it narrows the avenues for diplomacy,” Harris said. ‘Their actions simply do not match their words.’ 

Harris also accused Putin of feigning “ignorance and innocence” as he works on  fabricating a false pretext for invading Ukraine, CNN reported. 

The Vice President said that the Russian aggression playbook is “too familiar to us all.”

“We now receive reports of what appears to be provocations and we see Russia spreading disinformation, lies and propaganda. Nonetheless, in a deliberate and coordinated effort, we together are one, exposing the truth and two, speaking with a unified voice,” Harris said.

“We have prepared economic measures that will be swift, severe, and united,” she added. “We will target Russia’s financial institutions and key industries, and we will target those who are complicit and those who aide and abet this unprovoked invasion.”

The United States will not stop with economic measures, but will further reinforce the eastern flank of NATO, Harris said at the conference.  

Her speech came a day after Russia appeared to step up its preparations for war. 

A car bomb exploded late Friday near the headquarters of the pro-Russian Donetsk People’s Republic, destroying a Soviet-era UAZ jeep that belonged to Denis Sinenkov, head of regional security. He was not reported to be injured.

Russian state media were the first to report on the explosion and picture the bomb site, with a notorious Russian ‘journalist’ – thought to be a state propagandist – among the first to arrive on the scene. 

Just an hour before the blast, the pro-Russian heads of the People’s Republic of Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republic ordered women, children and the elderly to evacuate immediately ahead of what they claimed would be a Ukrainian invasion. They said they were evacuating 700,000 people.

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