The Biden administration warned on Wednesday of additional measures it is preparing in the event Russia escalates an armed conflict in Ukraine, signaling that it is ready to impose a ban on exports of American technology that are vital to the Russian economy.
The warning came a day after the United States announced sanctions on two Russian banks and curbs on Russia’s sovereign debt, effectively cutting the country off from Western financing. Export controls would represent a significant expansion of the tools the United States is prepared to deploy to respond to further aggression by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.
“If he chooses to invade, what we’re telling him very directly is that we’re going to cut that off, we’re going to cut him off from Western technology that’s critical to advancing his military, cut him off from Western financial resources that will be critical to feeding his economy and also to enriching himself,” Wally Adeyemo, the deputy Treasury secretary, said on CNBC on Wednesday.
Mr. Adeyemo said that the United States is coordinating closely with European allies on efforts to exert pressure on Russia’s economy. He added that the tools that the Biden administration was preparing to deploy are more potent than those that were used after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
The United States has employed export controls in recent years in response to national security concerns about the Chinese telecommunications company Huawei, and it placed restrictions on exports of defense equipment and certain high-technology products to Hong Kong in 2020 after Beijing tightened control over the territory.
Russia has taken steps in recent years to fortify its balance sheet and currency reserves to diminish the impact of international sanctions. However, restrictions on American technology components could damage Russian sectors such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing and aerospace that rely on equipment or software that is made in the United States.
The White House declined to elaborate on the details of what kinds of American technology exports could be restricted but acknowledged that they are among the range of options being considered.
“Obviously, export control actions would have a significant additional impact on the economy there,” Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said Tuesday.
