U.S. not considering 'preemptive' sanctions against Russia

The United States is not considering "preemptive" sanctions against Russia over the crisis in Ukraine, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby has announced.

"If it's a deterrent and you use it before the aggression is made or the transgression is made, then you lose your deterrent effect," Kirby said, speaking to Fox News on Sunday.

"If you punish someone for something they haven't done yet then they might as well just go ahead and do it. So we believe that there is a deterrent effect by keeping them in reserve, and we have been very clear with the international community and with Mr. Putin about the severity of the economic consequences that he could face," the spokesman added.

Pressed to confirm that the U.S. would not impose sanctions in the absence of Russian "aggression," Kirby indicated that "right now we are not considering a preemptive sanction regime."

Kirby's comments echoed those made by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken last month when the secretary suggested that if new sanctions were "triggered now," the U.S. would "lose the deterrent effect."

Earlier this week, U.S. media reported that Senate negotiations on a so-called "mother of all sanctions" bill against Russia were ongoing, and were running against the clock of a 21 February deadline, when the Senate will go into recess for a week.

On Friday, US and European Union officials told Reuters that Washington and Brussels were finalizing new restrictions targeting Russian banks, but said that cutting Russia off from the SWIFT interbanking money transfer system was not on the cards thanks to objections from European countries.