Sullivan told ABC News co-presenter This Week Jonathan Karl on Sunday that prior to the start of the war, the declassified information “showed that there was a plan by the highest levels of the Russian government to target civilians opposed to the invasion”. “Well, this is something that was planned,” he told Karl, adding that some units may have acted without instructions from their leaders, frustrated by the level of opposition they have encountered from Ukrainians. “I believe that some of these units were involved in these acts of barbarism, these atrocities, these war crimes, even without instructions from above. But make no mistake, the biggest issue of large-scale war crimes and atrocities in Ukraine is “He is at the feet of the Kremlin and is at the feet of the Russian president,” he said. Asked if the actions amounted to genocide, as suggested by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who visited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv this week, Sullivan noted that the State Department usually analysis. “But let’s leave the legitimacy aside for a minute … I think we can all say that this is a mass atrocity. These are war crimes,” he said. In one of the latest incidents, at least 52 people, including five children, were killed during a rocket attack on a train station in eastern Ukraine. Images of corpses strewn across luggage showed the magnitude of the attack, which injured at least 100 people. Since the start of the war, the Biden government has consistently enforced sanctions aimed at crippling the Russian economy and financing the Putin invasion. In the latest package, the United States, in conjunction with the European Union and its G-7 allies, imposed a ban on all new investment in Russia, increased sanctions on two major banks and imposed sanctions on the two adult daughters of Russian President Vladimir Putin. . But while the United States has banned Russian oil imports, European governments have not. Asked if it was time for Europe to ban Russian oil and gas and imports, which are estimated at $ 850 million a day, Sullivan said the president was clear that the US was able to do so “without imposing a huge cost to the American people. but would continue to work with European allies to reduce dependence. “He is now working on a daily basis with his European counterparts on steps that Europe can take to wean itself off Russian oil and gas,” he told Karl. “In fact, the United States is increasing its gas exports to Europe in order to reduce its dependence on Russia.” Karl continued: “But you hear the frustration of President Zelenskyy. We heard from the mayor of Kiev that money is still flowing, that the ruble is not in ruins as the president said … Money is flowing and still flows in enough dramatic levels “. “If you look at the independent forecasts for the Russian economy, it is likely to decline by about 10 to 15% this year,” Sullivan said. “It is likely to cease to be one of the largest economies in the world due to the economic pressure we have put on them.” Sullivan also said the economy was “artificially supported” by Russian banks. “Banks… are not allowed by the Russian government to sell dollars to customers. This is how they protect the ruble. But this has huge financial costs for the Russian economy,” he added. “We will continue to push the Russian economy so that Russia and the Kremlin feel the pain of what they have done in Ukraine.” Sullivan acknowledged that although Putin had failed several times in his mission to overthrow the Ukrainian government, his close commitment to the media prevented the Russians from hearing the truth. “They do not understand the truth, for example, John, about the fact that the Russians lost and the Ukrainians won the battle for Kyiv,” he said. “Kyiv is standing up to Russia’s attempts to seize its neighbor’s capital and they have been unable to do so and have suffered a major military defeat there.”
