US intel believes Putin might use Biden's support for Ukraine to justify future interference in American elections: report

• The Associated Press on Saturday reported that Putin could interfere in US elections because Biden is pro-Ukraine.
• The US has also levied a series of harsh economic sanctions designed to cripple Russia's critical cash reserves.

Russian President Vladimir Putin might use US President Joe Biden's support of Ukraine as a pretext to interfere in American elections again, US intelligence officials warned on Saturday.

Speaking with The Associated Press, unnamed officials familiar with the matter said while there is not yet any evidence that Russia will interfere in another election, Putin might have an incentive to do so given Biden's pro-Ukraine stance.

"Our Election Threats Executive continues to lead the Intelligence Community's efforts against foreign threats to U.S. elections," a spokesperson for US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said in a statement to the AP. "We're also continuing to work to deliver on the legislative requirement to create a center to integrate intelligence on foreign malign influence."

After Russia began its unprovoked assault on Ukraine, the US levied a series of harsh economic sanctions designed to cripple Russia's critical cash reserves and cut the country off from access to financial institutions.

Among the sanctions was a ban on Russian energy imports, including its oil. Russia is a major oil producer, and, as Insider's Mattathias Schwartz notes, Russia's energy resources bring home more than $500 million per day, which makes up about half its government revenue.

Also, the Biden administration last year slapped Russia with rounds of sanctions in retaliation for its efforts to meddle in the 2020 US election and its cyberattacks. The sanctions targeted dozens of Russian entities and individuals who sought to interfere in the election "at the direction of the leadership of the Russian Government," and the US also announced at the time it would expel several Russian diplomats.

Experts previously told Insider's Sonam Sheth and Grace Panetta that the unexpected difficulty in taking control of Ukraine might also motivate Putin to interfere in future foreign elections.

"Because of the resistance Russia has gotten and NATO becoming even stronger, Russia has to show a sign of dominance on the cyber side, just from a playbook perspective," David Kennedy, a former NSA hacker and the CEO of TrustedSec, told Insider. "So Putin and the intelligence agencies are going to look at how to cause as much damage as possible."

Early in March, Putin warned that any country that tries to impose a no-fly zone will be considered "participants in a military conflict, and it doesn't matter members of which organizations they are."

Biden, though, has resisted calls from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to implement a no-fly zone over Ukraine out of fear that it could lead to a war with Russia. GOP Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida said the move could likely escalate into World War III.