House Intelligence Committee chair: Russia's invasion going to bring NATO closer to Russia

“Russia needs to understand we [the United States and its allies] are united in this. I also think that a powerful deterrent is the understanding that if they [Russians] do invade [Ukraine], it is going to bring NATO's closer to Russia, not push it farther away. That we will move more NATO's assets closer to Russia. That it will have the opposite impact of what Putin is trying to achieve,” Schiff told CBS News in an interview.

He also added that the imposition of new strong sectoral sanctions against Russia would be a deterrent against Moscow.

“I think the sector sized sanctions will be the most important deterrent [against Russia,” Schiff noted.

As reported, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President Joe Biden discussed on January 2 reforms, de-oligarchization, and joint actions to prevent further escalation.

On December 30, 2021, the American leader had a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which lasted less than an hour. In particular, the head of the White House warned his interlocutor about the imposition of large-scale economic, financial, and political sanctions in case of further escalation of the situation around Ukraine.

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