The Biden administration has imposed a direct sanction on Russian President Vladimir Putin. On Friday (Feb. 25), White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced the move, which was reportedly inspired after a conversation with Ursula von der Leyen of the European Union. Also being sanctioned are Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other members of the Russian national security team.

Biden had cautioned against sanctions in an effort to deter Putin from invading Ukraine, but when the Russian president went on with the attack, he was forced to impose the penalties. On Thursday (Feb. 24), POTUS froze all Russian assets in the United States, limited exports of some products to Russia and cut off a majority of the country’s high-tech imports to stop it from developing further ammunition.

With the latest sanction, the U.S. joins the European Union after they announced they were directly sanctioning Putin early Friday. “We are now listing President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov as well,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said. “They are responsible for the deaths of innocent people in Ukraine, and for trampling on the international system. We, as Europeans, do not accept that.”

The goals of the sanctions are to weaken the Russian economy and eventually put an end to the invasion of Ukraine, which has already suffered much loss. As previously reported by REVOLT, nearly 137 civilians and military personnel died and 300 were injured amid the attack, per Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

“They’re killing people and turning peaceful cities into military targets,” he said in a statement. “It’s foul and will never be forgiven.”

Another 50,000 Ukrainians fled to Poland and Moldova. “More than 50,000 Ukrainian refugees have fled their country in less than 48 hours – a majority to Poland and Moldova – and many more are moving towards its borders,” tweeted United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. “Heartfelt thanks to the governments and people of countries keeping their borders open and welcoming refugees.”