Hawkish US senator calls on Obama to punish Russia

Hawkish US Senator Bob Corker has called on President Barack Obama to expand Russian sanctions in response to Moscow’s alleged shipment of tanks and rocket launchers to anti-Kiev protesters in neighboring Ukraine.

“With Russian tanks having crossed into Ukraine, the president must impose the tough sanctions he promised as the situation on the ground has clearly escalated,” the high-ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said on Saturday, The Hill reported.

“None of the minor actions that have been taken so far have changed [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s calculus, so a failure to respond vigorously now will have disastrous consequences, not only for Ukraine, but all neighboring countries who face similar threats from Russia,” he added.

On Friday, the US State Department accused Russia of dispatching T-64 tanks and BM-21 multiple rocket launchers to Ukraine, calling the move “unacceptable.”

The US termed the old tanks Cold War relics which are no longer used by Russia, but Ukraine’s army still uses them and it is believed that the Russians have more in storage.

“We have information that Russia has accumulated tanks of a type no longer used by Russian forces at a deployment site in southwest Russia, and some of these tanks recently departed,” the State Department noted in a statement.

The United States has already imposed travel and asset bans on a number of Russian officials over the crisis in Ukraine.

Corker has introduced a bill in Congress that would impose sanctions on several more Russian officials as well as on Russian banks and big corporations.

The measures would target Russian energy giants Gazprom and Rosneft as well as four key Russian banks — Sberbank, VTB Bank, VEB Bank, and Gazprombank.

Washington has long accused Moscow of interfering in Ukraine and of providing arms and support to the protesters in the East European country.

Russia has dismissed as “nonsense” claims that it is fomenting unrest in eastern Ukraine.