In fact, on Thursday, President Biden announced an expansion of sanctions targeting the Russian oligarch class. Many of those named, including Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman and one of his closest advisers, are among his most powerful advocates and beneficiaries of the system he created.
Mr. Biden, reading a prepared statement and not answering questions, said the sanctions had already had a “profound impact.”
A few hours after his speech, S&P downgraded Russia’s credit rating to CCC-, the rating agency said in a statement. That’s far below the junk bond level Russia was at a few days after the invasion, and just two notches above the warning that the country was heading for default.
This showed that Mr. Putin’s attempts to “protect his economy from sanctions” had largely failed. And, at least for now, the Russian leader has no apparent way out other than to declare a ceasefire or withdraw his forces — moves he has so far shown no interest in.
At a White House briefing on Thursday afternoon, press secretary Jen Psaki said she was unaware of any attempt to show Mr. Putin a way out. “I think that it is at this moment that they are marching in a column towards Kyiv and continue their allegedly barbaric actions against the people of Ukraine. So now is not the time when we offer options for easing sanctions.”
Still, a senior State Department official, when asked about discussions within the administration about the risks ahead, said there were nuances in the administration’s approach that point to ways out for the Russian leader.
Updated
March 4, 2022 00:29 AM ET
According to the official, Biden’s policy was not to seek regime change in Russia. The idea, he said, was to influence Mr. Putin’s actions, not his power. And the sanctions, the official noted, were conceived not as a punishment, but as a lever to end the war. They will escalate if Mr. Putin escalates the situation, the official said. But the administration will reconsider its sanctions and possibly reduce them if Mr. Putin starts to de-escalate.