Biden claims ‘no one expected’ sanctions would prevent Russia from invading Ukraine—Kamala did

Biden announced Thursday afternoon a new round of sanctions against Russian entities. This latest move by the US president was in response to the invasion of Ukraine started by Russian President Vladimir Putin overnight.

Biden gave mixed signals to reporters about whether or not they'd work.

Cecilia Vega of ABC News asked Biden: "Sir, sanctions clearly have not been enough to deter Vladimir Putin to this point. What is going to stop him? How and when does this end, and do you see him trying to go beyond Ukraine?"

Biden responded: "No one expected the sanctions to prevent anything from happening. This is going to take time, and we have to show resolve so he knows what's coming and so the people of Russia know what he's brought on them. That's what this is all about. This is going to take time."

Biden's vice president had a different take earlier in the week.

When asked about the strength of US sanctions against Russia on Sunday, Harris expressed confidence they'd work as a deterrence.

"The purpose of the sanctions has always been and continues to be deterrence. But let’s also recognize the unique nature of the sanctions that we have outlined. These are some of the greatest sanctions, if not the strongest sanctions, that we’ve ever issued," Harris responded.

A secondary question about the possibility of Russia using nuclear retaliation drew an "I have no idea" response from the American president Thursday.

This is in contrast to another response the president gave to reporters. When asked by Peter Doocy of Fox News about the tenacity of sanctions, Biden agreed that the measures were "as devastating as Russian missiles and bullets and tanks."

But again there's mixed responses.

The occasion represents the complications of politics during war. In another avenue, while Biden swore "our forces are not going to fight in Ukraine," the Pentagon ordered another 7,000 troops to Europe to help bolster NATO allies.

It was also at Thursday's conference that Biden said he had "no plans" to talk with Putin further. The significance of this remark being that it signals an end to the heavy diplomacy strategy previously at play from the White House.

According to a White House fact sheet, a list of the sanctions against Russia and others issued by the United States on Thursday include:

• "Severing the connection to the U.S. financial system for Russia’s largest financial institution, Sberbank, including 25 subsidiaries, by imposing correspondent and payable-through account sanctions."
• "Full blocking sanctions on Russia's second largest financial institution, VTB Bank (VTB), including 20 subsidiaries."
• "Full blocking sanctions on three other major Russian financial institutions: Bank Otkritie, Sovcombank OJSC, and Novikombank- and 34 subsidiaries."
• "New debt and equity restrictions on thirteen of the most critical major Russian enterprises and entities."
• "Additional full blocking sanctions on Russian elites and their family members: Sergei Ivanov (and his son, Sergei), Nikolai Patrushev (and his son Andrey), Igor Sechin (and his son Ivan), Andrey Puchkov, Yuriy Solviev (and two real estate companies he owns), Galina Ulyutina, and Alexander Vedyakhin."
• "Costs on Belarus for supporting a further invasion of Ukraine by sanctioning 24 Belarusian individuals and entities."
• "Sweeping restrictions on Russia’s military to strike a blow to Putin’s military and strategic ambitions."
• "Russia-wide restrictions to choke off Russia’s import of technological goods critical to a diversified economy and Putin’s ability to project power."
• "Historical multilateral cooperation that serves as a force multiplier in restricting more than $50 billion in key inputs to Russia- impacting far more than that in Russia’s production."

The strategy from the White House is that measures like these will work as a long-term "squeeze" that'll ebb down Putin's capability to continue his war against Ukraine.

Elsewhere on Thursday, the international community of G7 countries announced more sanctions of their own. Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau said they'd be targeting 62 different Russian entities involving banks and members of the country's elite, alongside their family.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed a sweeping series of sanctions against Russia that Reuters labeled as some of the "largest-ever" from the country.