President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday that the United States will impose major penalties on Russia on Friday in response to the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny and the ongoing Ukraine crisis.
According to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, the latest sanctions against Russia would target a variety of assets, including the country’s defense and industrial sectors, as well as sources of revenue for the economy, Politico reports.
According to White House national security spokesman John Kirby, the package will “hold Russia accountable for what happened to Mr. Navalny” as well as its conduct during the Ukrainian war.
A senior US official stated that a sanctions package was already being designed to commemorate the second anniversary of the war,which Washington will now examine and strengthen in light of Navalny’s death.
According to two sources familiar with the subject, the Treasury’s Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian Nelson, is in Europe this week and is contemplating penalties in response to Navalny’s murder.
The Treasury said Nelson is also addressing Washington’s right to pursue those who fund Russia’s weapons production operations, even if they are in foreign countries. It also stated that the US is “aggressively pursuing those who attempt to evade our sanctions.”
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the United States implemented a wide range of sanctions against Russia, including President Vladimir Putin, politicians, and banks.
The sanctions also focused on the 2020 poisoning and imprisonment of Navalny.targeting individuals linked to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) and other officials.
Navalny, Putin’s fiercest domestic critic, fell unconscious and died suddenly on Friday after a walk at the “Polar Wolf” penal colony above the Arctic Circle where he was serving a three-decade sentence, the prison service said.
