The US prepares “major sanctions” against Russia for Navalny’s death

WASHINGTON – The Biden administration is preparing “major sanctions” against Moscow in response to the death of the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, a White House official said Tuesday.

The spokesperson of the National Security Council, John Kirby He said the sanctions would be announced on Friday.

President Joe Biden he said there was “no doubt” that Vladimir Putin’s government was behind Navalny’s death.

“Whatever story the Russian government decides to tell the world, it is clear that President Putin and his government are responsible of Mr. Navalny’s death,” Kirby told reporters on Tuesday.

Kirby declined to detail what will be included in the sanctions package, but said it would be designed to “hold Russia accountable for what happened to Navalny and, frankly, all of his actions throughout this.” ferocious and brutal war which has been going on for two years now.

Russian authorities said Navalny, 47, lost consciousness and died after taking a walk Friday in the Arctic prison where he was transferred last year.

Russia announced an investigation into Navalny’s death, but Kirby said Tuesday that “regardless of the actual scientific response, Putin is responsible for it.”

“In the absence of a credible investigation into his death, it is difficult to get to the point where we can simply take the Russians’ word for it,” he said.

Navalny’s death came as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine neared the end of its second year and billions of dollars in American aid remained stalled in Congress.

Navalny, who has been one of Putin’s fiercest critics, has also been a strong voice in condemning the invasion.

“One of the most powerful things we can do right now to stand up to Vladimir Putin, of course, is to repass the bipartisan Supplemental National Security Act and support Ukraine as it continues to fight valiantly in defense of its country,” Kirby said.

Since the 2022 Russian invasion, the Biden administration has announced a series of sanctions that the United States hoped would weaken Russia economically and militarily.

Washington has isolated Russia’s largest banks and corporations from Western financial markets, joined Europe in freezing hundreds of billions of dollars in Russian central bank assets, and joined the Group of 7 allies in taking measures to block the flow of military technology to Russia.

Effects

But the sanctions did not greatly alter the country’s ability to resist economically during the war, as Biden had hoped.

Last month, the International Monetary Fund stated that the Russian economy is growing faster than expected.

In response to a question about the effectiveness of previous sanctions, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierreclaimed that the United States and its partners had “imposed the most severe sanctions on Russia that an economy of its size has ever faced.”

“We expelled them from the international organization and worked to isolate them on the world stage,” he added.

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