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So you can stop at nothing for your customers. we have more breaking news this morning. just getting word of new penalties imposed by the united states on russian financial institutions. let's find out exactly what's going on here. jeremy diamond is at the white house. jeremy, lay out the outlines of these new punishments? >> reporter: this is a major accident by the united states that tries to take direct aim at what vladimir putin has been building up for years in anticipation of major sanctions should he take an action like invading ukraine. russia has this $630 billion rainy day fund of ...

Been. together -- [ applause ] together, along with our allies, we're right now enforcing powerful economic sanctions. we're cutting off russia's largest banks and international finance system. preventing russia's central bank from defending the russian ruble. making putin $630 billion war fund worthless. we're choking russia's access -- we're choking russia's access to technology that will sap the economic strength and weaken its military for years to come. tonight, i say to the russian oligarchs and corrupt leaders who built billions of dollars off this violent regime, no more. the united st...

Imposed. i think there is a political or moral question there. but in terms wlf it's had an impact on president putin whul his spokesperson was asked today whether how russia responded to biden's tell he viewsed announcement, he said we didn't watch it. now listen, the issue is that if you remove, for example, a very big economic move, if you remove, for example, russia from the swift payment system eight years ago in 2014, it would have had a much bigger impact than it would have now. russia has $630 billion worth of reserves. president putin is building those kinds of reserves since before h...

Near term, but what's the path back? >> that's a good question, victor. i think it's been evident now that moscow is not really interested in serious diplomacy. there were diplomatic off-ramps that washington offered, that nato offered six weeks ago and the russians just brushed them aside. so there will be a place for diplomacy, i hope at some point, but it may be a while. and there has to be an indication first and foremost that the russians are moving to de-escalate this crisis before you can really have a serious conversation. >> we're seeing the opposite, obviously, of russia escalating a...

You've never had them before. it's clear he didn't expect them to come this way. why do i say that? because he built up that $630 billion rainy day fund. and say the u.s. is coming in from the dollar part of it. question mark if he can get to the gold part of it. eu is doing the same thing on the euro part of it. let's remember, he's been putting this aside since he invaded ukraine the first time in 2014, annexed crimea. so 2015, '16, '17, he really begins digging in deep and stashing away this money. clearly he has in mind this will face sanctions but at the table, prime minister with him, fi...