Will Biden dare to freeze Putin's assets?

Freezing the substantial assets of a leader of a country is a big deal. Freezing the hugely substantial assets of one Vladimir Putin would be a mega-move which could have unpredictable consequences. Joe Biden put forward this idea yesterday. He mused to reporters that he could sanction Putin personally if he authorised the invasion of Ukraine. There are some commentators who have warned in the past that any action taken by the West to freeze Putin's bank accounts could be seen in the Kremlin as an act of war. Putin's wealth is a mystery but there have been rumours over the years that, allegedly, he has bank accounts in Geneva, although not, clearly, under his own name. I don't have any evidence to prove tbis one way or the other. But I suspect that those clever chaps and ladies who work in the US Treasury's terrorism and financial intelligence branch will have a pretty good idea where Putin has hidden his money. The Kremlin just talks about Putin having his salary cheques sent to a bank in Moscow. That may well be true but there is little doubt he has other financial assets outside the homeland of Russia and if Biden can get his hands on such assets and block them, Putin would be furious to the point of apoplexy. It's a high-risk suggestion by Biden. For years when Russia was having sanctions imposed on numerous individuals and companies for all kinds of malevolent deeds, notably the invasion and annexing of Crimea, the alleged involvement in the fatal poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko in a London hotel and the claimed GRU role in the near-fatal poisoning of ex-Russian intelligence officer turned MI6 doube agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury, questions were raised then about why Putin's personal assets had not been frozen. Basically no one dared do it. Now Biden has it in his mind. I wonder whether this sanction, this personal attack on Putin's personal wealth, might be the best deterrent of all. We will see.