The United States and its allies have prepared a list of Russian elites from President Vladimir Putin's inner circle against whom sanctions will be imposed if Russia deploys troops into Ukraine, a senior US official said, Reuters reported.

Both Washington and London declined to name those who would be targeted for sanctions.

“The individuals we have identified are in or near the inner circles of the Kremlin and play a role in government decision making or are at a minimum complicit in the Kremlin’s destabilizing behavior," US official in Washington said, according to Reuters.

“Putin’s cronies will no longer be able to use their spouses or other family members as proxies to evade sanctions. Sanctions would cut them off from the international financial system and ensure that they and their family members will no longer able to enjoy the perks of parking their money in the West and attending elite Western universities,” the official added.