Putin ‘has made his decision’ on Ukraine and we ‘will target those who are complicit’, says Kamala Harris

Comes as Harris is in Munich

(Getty Images)

Vice President Kamala Harris repeated President Joe Biden’s comments that the United States believes that Russian president Vladimir Putin has made a decision about whether to invade Ukraine.

“As the president has said, we believe that Putin has made his decision. Period,” she said. The vice president added that the United States shares information because it wants to make sure everyone has the same information before making critical decisions.

Ms Harris made the remarks at a press gaggle in Germany during the Munich Security Conference, where she laid out the consequences if Russia were to invade Ukraine.

“We will impose far-reaching financial sanctions and export controls. We will target Russia’s financial institutions and key industries, and we will target those who are complicit and those who aid and abet this unprovoked invasion,” she said onstage.

The vice president met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and told reporters that everyone did not initially agree what the consequences should be if Mr Putin decides to invade Ukraine, which was why she met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

“And so, all nations who are a part of this understand that we cannot take lightly or speak lightly about what we are prepared to do, because we do understand the cost we are exacting, and it is severe,” she told reporters.

Ms Harris also addressed comments by Mr Zelensky when he said he questioned Nato’s commitment to Ukraine joining the alliance.

“Nato is a membership. It is about nations coming together as a group, making decisions collectively around, again, principles and what will be, then, the conditions and ... and the standards of membership. And so that is the process,” she said.

At the same time, Ms Harris said that joining Nato is not an overnight process.

“No one country can say ‘I want to be, and therefore I will be.’ And no one country can say ‘You can't be,’” she said. “And isn't that at the heart of the very issue we’re presented with in terms of Russia's aggression, or stated aggression, toward Ukraine?”