The Biden administration declared a national emergency on Thursday, slapping sanctions on more than three dozen people in Russia and expelling ten diplomats, in an about-face after the US pulled back two warships heading to the Black Sea.
"Today, we announced actions to hold the Russian Government to account for the SolarWinds intrusion, reports of bounties on US soldiers in Afghanistan, and attempts to interfere in the 2020 US elections," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
The White House also released a letter to Congress stating that the president has issued "an Executive Order declaring a national emergency with respect to the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States posed by specified harmful foreign activities of the Government of the Russian Federation."
The letter said that Russia had aimed to "undermine the conduct of free and fair democratic elections," engaged in "malicious cyber-enabled activities," targeted journalists and dissenters outside of its borders, and violated international law.
This, Biden said in the letter, constitutes "an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States."
The United States has introduced new sanctions against the Russian Federation over malicious cyber activities and meddling in US presidential elections.
This has been reported on the White House"s website.
"Today, President Biden signed a new sanction executive order (EO) that provides strengthened authorities to demonstrate the Administration"s resolve in responding to and deterring the full scope of Russia"s harmful foreign activities. This EO sends a signal that the United States will impose costs in a strategic and economically impactful manner on Russia if it continues or escalates its destabilizing international actions," the report said.
