Defense & National Security — Biden gears up for new Russia sanctions

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President Biden and U.S. allies are preparing to announce new sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine when Biden visits Belgium later this week. 

More on what to expect, plus the Pentagon’s new suicide prevention review committee and Australia’s partnership with the U.S. on space defense.

For The Hill, I’m Jordan Williams. Write me with tips at jwilliams@digital-release.thehill.com.  

Let’s get to it.

Biden, US allies to impose sanctions on Russia

President Biden and U.S. allies will unveil new sanctions against Russia when the president travels to Belgium this week. 

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan didn’t provide details about specific sanctions, as he didn’t want to get ahead of Thursday’s expected announcement.

“He will join our partners in imposing further sanctions on Russia and tightening the existing sanctions to crack down on evasion and to ensure robust enforcement,” Sullivan said.

The itinerary: Biden is slated to attend an emergency NATO meeting, meet with the other Group of Seven (G-7) leaders and address a European Council summit on Thursday in Belgium.

He’ll also travel to Poland and meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda the following day. 

What to expect: Sullivan said the measures would involve enforcing current sanctions by “ensuring that there is joint effort to crack down on evasion, sanctions busting, on any attempt by any country to help Russia basically undermine, weaken, or get around the sanctions.”

Sullivan also said that Biden would announce a new joint action on enhancing European energy security as well as new U.S. contributions to a humanitarian response to Russia’s war in Ukraine. Millions of Ukrainians have fled their homes amid the war, many of them crossing over into neighboring Poland. It’s unclear if Biden will meet with refugees when he visits Poland on Friday.

Read the full story here.

The globally coordinated sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine are aimed at regime change in Moscow, a top Greek diplomat told The Hill in an interview in Washington, D.C.  

Greek Alternate Foreign Minister Varvitsiotis Miltiadis praised President Biden for corralling democracies to impose coordinated sanctions but warned that Turkey’s absence on some of the most punishing measures risks undermining the global push to punish Putin.  

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that the coordinated sanctions are not about regime change, telling CBS in an interview on March 6 that “the Russian people have to decide who they want to lead them.” 

But Miltiadis emphasized that the sanctions are aimed at stoking the opposition in Russia. 

“The sanctions … are dedicated in order to bring down the Putin regime by internal unrest — and this is the idea that we create,” he said, “a climate into Russia that this act of aggression is going to be costly for the economy of Russia, and to build up the unrest and the opposition to Putin.” 

Read more here. 

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin established a Suicide Prevention and Response Independent Review Committee (SPRIRC) to address and prevent suicide in the military, the Pentagon announced on Tuesday.  

What the panel will do: The committee will “conduct a comprehensive review of the Department’s efforts to address and prevent suicide,” Austin wrote in a memorandum establishing the panel.   

The panel will also review actions underway on addressing sexual assault in the military and the recommendations of the Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military.  

This is to ensure the recommendations made by the suicide prevention panel are “synchronized with current prevention activities and capabilities,” Austin wrote.  

The harsh reality: In 2020, 580 members died by suicide, according to the Pentagon’s annual suicide report released in September 2021.  

The report found that the suicide rate in the active component of the military increased from 20.3 per 100,000 in 2015 to 28.7 suicides per 100,000 members in 2020.  

During that time, there were no changes in suicide rates in the reserve components and National Guard.  

Next steps: Austin will direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness to issue a memorandum identifying members of the committee, the timeline for installation visits and the committee’s charter.   

The panel will visit several military installations as part of its work, including Fort Campbell, Ky., Camp Lejeune, N.C., Naval Air Station North Island, Calif.; Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.; Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska; Fort Wainwright, Alaska; Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska; Camp Humphreys, South Korea; and the North Carolina National Guard.  

The committee will begin its work no later than May 14 and begin visiting those installations by no later than Aug. 1.  

The panel will send Austin an initial report for review by Dec. 20 ahead of sending its recommendations to Congress by Feb. 18, 2023.    

In a speech on Tuesday, Australian defense minister Peter Dutton officially announced the launch of the Defense Space Command, with a goal to “invest in new military space capabilities to counter threats.” 

Dutton also said that the Australian Department of Defense and the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office, which is part of the Defense Department, will cooperate on a “broad range of cooperative satellite activities which will expand Australia’s space knowledge and capabilities.” 

About the Space Command: The Australian Defense Space Command was first announced last year, with operations slated to begin Tuesday, according to The Washington Post. 

Dutton said Tuesday that the space command will be staffed by with personnel from Australia’s three services — Army, Navy and Air Force — as well as civil servants and industry contractors. 

Protecting the new frontier: Dutton said that space will “undoubtedly become a domain which takes on greater military significance in this century.” 

“We know that some countries are developing capabilities to threaten or degrade space networks, to target satellites, and to destroy space systems,” he said, pointing to Russia destroying its own Cosmos 1408 as part of an anti-satellite missile test. 

“For any nation, losing access to space would have significant civil and military consequences. Thus all nations have an interest in assuring their access to space,” Dutton said.  

Read the full story here. 

• President Biden departs for his trip to Europe 

• The Wilson Center will host a discussion on “The Changing Landscape of Gulf Cooperation Council Security” at 10 a.m. 

• The Berkley Center will host a discussion on “Pondering the Nuclear Posture Review After Ukraine” at 1 p.m. 

• The Atlantic Council will host “Future Foreign Policy: What Russia’s war means for European defense” at 2 p.m. 

• The Senate Armed Services Committee will receive testimony on strategic competition and security cooperation in the Western Hemisphere at 2:30 p.m. 

• The Senate Veterans’ Affairs committee will hold a hearing entitled “Honoring Our Commitment: Improving VA’s Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers” at 3 p.m. 

• The Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft will hold an event entitled “19 Years After the Invasion: A Reflection on the U.S. Military Presence in Iraq” at 6 p.m. 

• The Stimson Center will host a d discussion on “The Post-Cold War Transformation of the US-ROK Alliance: Implications and Future Cooperation” at 7 p.m.

   

• Pentagon: We’re seeing ‘clear evidence’ Russia is ‘committing war crimes’

• Lawmakers call for US intelligence community to track potential war crimes in Ukraine 

• Progressives in odd spot on Russian war 

• State Department to help transfer Ukraine pediatric cancer patients to St. Jude’s 

• Politico: Pentagon scrambles to replenish weapons stock sent to Ukraine