Rep. Adam Schiff calls for the US to sanction Putin directly, a rare step that has been reserved for dictators and war lords

• Adam Schiff praised the Biden administration's current sanctions against Russia.
• But the top Democrat wants to go even further by targeting Vladimir Putin directly.

Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, called for the Biden administration to sanction Russian President Vladimir Putin directly, a rare step that in the past has only been taken against some of the world's worst dictators and strongmen.

"I think the package of sanctions that the president announced is the most severe we have ever leveled against Russia," Schiff said on MSNBC. "Nevertheless, I favor going further. I favor expelling them from SWIFT. I favor imposing sanctions directly on Vladimir Putin."

President Joe Biden told reporters that the White House is considering sanctioning Putin directly. Biden ignored further questions on when such a decision could be announced.

Biden said Putin risks a "complete rupture" in US-Russian relations if he continues its current path. Russia began airstrikes against Kyiv on Thursday amid fears that Moscow aims to take the Ukrainian capital.

The US very rarely sanctions foreign leaders directly and historically has avoided sanctioning officials of countries that have diplomatic ties to the US. Schiff also suggested kicking Russia out of the Swift payment system, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. The global banking service links more than 11,000 financial institutions in more than 200 countries and territories, meaning that banning Russia from Swift would be akin to ex-communication from the global economy.

If the White House levies sanctions on Putin, he would join a very short list of some of the world's most controversial figures. Presidents Trump, Obama, and George W. Bush all imposed direct sanctions on world leaders, CNN previously reported. Among those sanctioned were, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei (Trump); North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (Obama); and Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe (Bush).

For now, the Biden administration has promised to sanction a growing list of Russian oligarchs. Experts have said that Putin derives significant support and political cover from the small number of vastly rich Russians who made their fortunes off Russia's economic liberalization in the 1990s.