"Putin has been planning this attack for several months," President Biden said at the outset.
He stresses that Russian President Vladimir Putin is the one who started the war.
Sanctions
Biden explained that US sanctions aim to maximize long-term impact on Russia, but minimize impact on Europe.
- We have today sanctioned Russian banks, which a total of one thousand billion US dollars in assets.
Biden was asked several questions about why the United States did not want to exclude Russia from the Swift banking system, and why no sanctions were imposed directly against Putin:
- Firstly: the sanctions we are introducing have the same, or greater, consequences than excluding Russia from Swift.
Secondly, this is not the path the rest of Europe wants to take.
He adds that they plan to stop more than half of Russia's high-tech imports.
"Will cost Russia dearly"
Together with allied countries, the United States will now plan the next step in the fight against Russia.
"Putin's aggression will cost Russia dearly," Biden said.
Have you underestimated Putin?
- I have not underestimated him.
He has greater ambitions with Ukraine.
"Putin wants to re-establish the former Soviet Union," he added.