Hillary Clinton: Keep Russia Out of G20, Increase Sanctions

Hillary Clinton says Russia remains a threat to “Europe, democracy and global stability” and should be kept out of international organizations like the G20.

The former secretary of state and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee also suggested imposing even “greater costs” on Russian President Vladimir Putin as punishment for invading Ukraine.

Clinton made the comments during an appearance Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press."

"The only way that we're going to end the bloodshed and the terror that we're seeing unleashed in Ukraine, and protect Europe and democracy, is to do everything we can to impose even greater costs on Putin. There are more banks that can be sanctioned. ... There is an increasing call for doing more on gas and oil," Clinton told host Chuck Todd.

"So, I think that now is the time to double down on the pressure."

Putin, she said, poses a threat not only to Ukraine, “but really to Europe, to democracy and the global stability that we thought we were building in the last 20 years.”

"I would not allow Russia back into the organizations that it has been a part of," she said. "I think there is an upcoming G20 event later in the year. I would not permit Russia to attend."

She emphasized: "If they insisted on literally showing up, I would hope there would be a significant, if not total, boycott. The only way that we're going to end the bloodshed and the terror that we're seeing unleashed in Ukraine and protect Europe and democracy, is to do everything we can to impose even greater costs on Putin."

Additional tools to deepen the strain on Russia’s economy should also be used, said Clinton.

"There are more banks that can be sanctioned and taken out of the so-called SWIFT relationship," she said. "There is an increasing call for doing more on gas and oil. Now, obviously, some of our strongest allies in Europe are desperately trying to get out from under their dependence upon Russian energy."

She added: "We need to expedite. And I know the [Biden] administration has been doing that, looking at more deliveries of liquefied natural gas, for instance.”

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