白宫新闻秘书珍·普萨基周日表示，俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京决定将俄罗斯的核威慑力量置于高度戒备状态，这是“制造不存在的威胁”的“模式”的一部分
普萨基告诉美国广播公司“本周”节目主持人乔治·斯特凡诺普洛斯说:“这确实是我们在这场冲突中从普京总统那里看到的一种模式，即制造并不存在的威胁，以证明进一步的侵略是正当的。”“国际社会和美国人民应该透过这个棱镜来看待它。”
普京周日宣布，他已下令军队将俄罗斯核威慑力量置于高度戒备状态，以回应他所称的来自北约国家的“挑衅性声明”。
“我们一次又一次看到他这样做，”普萨基说。“俄罗斯从未受到北约的威胁，也从未受到乌克兰的威胁。这都是普京总统的模式。”
此举出台之际，西方国家对俄罗斯实施了一波又一波的金融制裁入侵乌克兰这有可能削弱俄罗斯的经济。美国和其他国家也加大了对乌克兰的军事援助。
观察家们质疑普京的行为是否理性，前美国驻俄罗斯大使迈克尔·麦克福尔本周表示，他不认为俄罗斯总统是理性的。
“我希望我能分享更多，”佛罗里达州参议员马尔科·卢比奥说，发推星期五，“但现在我可以说，对许多人来说，很明显普京有点不对劲。”
当被斯特凡诺普洛斯问及美国政府是否认为普京在某种程度上精神不正常时，普萨基表示，俄罗斯领导人已经明确表示，他的“野心不仅仅是为入侵乌克兰辩护”。
“我不会对他的精神稳定性做出评估，”她说，“但我可以肯定地告诉你，他的言辞、行为，以及为自己的行为所做的辩解，肯定让我们深感担忧。”
当被斯特凡诺普洛斯问及总统乔·拜登是否有信心他的乌克兰对手沃洛季米尔·泽伦斯基是安全的时，普萨基拒绝回答，而是称赞了这位乌克兰领导人。
“他一直保持着密切联系，”普萨基说。“虽然不涉及他的安全——泽伦斯基总统的安全——我只想指出，乔治，正如美国人民已经看到并关注的那样，他勇敢地站起来反对普京总统和俄罗斯领导层的入侵，领导他的国家并继续这样做。”
在早些时候接受“本周”采访时，乌克兰驻美国大使Oksana Markarova告诉Stephanopoulos，Zelenskyy“和我们的国家一样安全。”
“这是他做出的选择，留在基辅，留在乌克兰，在这个非常困难的时刻领导这个国家，”她说。
美国及其西方盟友周六表示，他们将把俄罗斯央行作为目标，并禁止该国一些银行参与一个促进国际交易的系统。
但是，除了停止一条尚未开始向欧洲输送天然气的俄罗斯管道之外，这些国家还没有对俄罗斯经济的主要部门——石油和天然气行业——实施严厉制裁。
参议员汤姆·科顿。呼吁拜登政府制裁俄罗斯能源部门，同时取消对美国联邦土地上钻井的限制，并重新开放拜登6月份撤销许可的Keystone管道。斯特凡诺普洛斯就这些提议向普萨基施压。
普萨基说:“Keystone输油管道没有通过该系统处理石油。”“那并不能解决任何问题。那是一次误诊...需要发生什么，”她说。“我还要指出，在石油租赁方面，在拜登总统看来，这实际上证明了一个事实，即我们需要减少对外国石油的依赖，从总体上来说，我们需要寻找其他加工方式——在我们国家和其他国家拥有能源。”
西欧大部分地区，尤其是德国，依赖于俄罗斯的天然气，而美国一直避免打击俄罗斯的石油和天然气行业，以避免欧洲和美国的价格飙升。
普萨基说:“我们希望采取一切措施，最大限度地扩大对普京总统的影响和后果，同时最大限度地减少对美国人民和全球社会的影响。”。“因此，能源制裁肯定会被提上日程。我们还没有脱下来。但我们也希望这样做，并确保我们最大限度地减少对全球市场的影响，并以团结的方式这样做。”
Putin's nuclear alert part of 'pattern' of 'manufacturing threats': Psaki
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to put his nation's nuclear deterrent forces on a state of heightened alert was part of a "pattern" of "manufacturing threats that don't exist."
"This is really a pattern that we've seen from President Putin through the course of this conflict, which is manufacturing threats that don't exist in order to justify further aggression," Psaki told ABC "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos. "And the global community and the American people should look at it through that prism."
Putin announced Sunday he had ordered his military to put Russia's nuclear deterrent forces in a state of heightened readiness in response to what he called "aggressive statements" from NATO countries.
"We've seen him do this time and time again," Psaki said. "At no point has Russia been under threat from NATO, has Russia been under threat from Ukraine. This is all a pattern from President Putin."
The move came as Western nations rolled out waves of financial sanctions on Russia over itsinvasion of Ukrainethat have the potential to cripple Russia's economy. The U.S. and other nations have also stepped up military aid to Ukraine.
Observers have questioned whether Putin is acting rationally, with a former U.S. ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, saying this week that he did not think the Russian president was.
"I wish I could share more," Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.,tweetedFriday, "but for now I can say it's pretty obvious to many that something is off with Putin."
Pressed by Stephanopoulos on whether the U.S. government believed Putin was mentally unbalanced in some way, Psaki said the Russian leader had made clear his "ambitions beyond" solely justifying the invasion of Ukraine.
"I'm not going to make an assessment of his mental stability," she said, "but I will tell you, certainly, the rhetoric, the actions, the justification that he's making for his actions are certainly deeply concerning to us."
Asked by Stephanopoulos if President Joe Biden was confident his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was safe, Psaki declined to say and instead praised the Ukrainian leader.
"He has been in close touch," Psaki said. "While not getting into his security -- the security of President Zelenskyy -- I'm just going to note, George, as the American people have seen and tuned in to, he is standing up courageously against the invasion of President Putin and Russian leadership, leading his country and continuing to."
In an earlier interview on "This Week," Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova told Stephanopoulos that Zelenskyy is "is as safe as our country."
"That's the choice he made to stay in Kyiv, to stay in Ukraine and lead the nation in this very difficult moment," she said.
The United States and its Western allies said Saturday they would target Russia’s central bank and bar some of the country’s banks from participating in a system that facilitates international transactions.
But aside from halting a Russian pipeline that had not yet started pumping gas to Europe, the countries have stopped short of launching crippling sanctions against Russia's oil and gas industry, a major sector of its economy.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., has called for the Biden administration to sanction the Russian energy sector while lifting restrictions on drilling on U.S. federal lands and reopening the Keystone Pipeline, which Biden revoked the permit for in June. Stephanopoulos pressed Psaki on those proposals.
"The Keystone Pipeline was not processing oil through the system," Psaki said. "That does not solve any problems. That's a misdiagnosis...of what needs to happen," she said. "I would also note that on oil leases, what this actually justifies, in President Biden's view, is the fact that we need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, on oil in general, and we need to look at other ways of processing -- of having energy in our country and others."
Much of Western Europe, especially Germany, relies on Russian gas, and the United States has stayed away from hitting Russia's oil and gas sector in order to avoid prices spiking in Europe and the U.S.
"We want to take every step to maximize the impact and the consequences on President Putin, while minimizing the impact on the American people and the global community," Psaki said. "And so energy sanctions are certainly on the table. We have not taken those off. But we also want to do that and make sure we're minimizing the impact on the global marketplace and do it in a united way."
