The United States will announce a significant set of sanctions on Russia on Friday in response to the death of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin’s critic Alexei Navalny and renewed Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine.
Addressing media on the White House’s south lawn on Tuesday, US President Joe Biden promised to provide more information about the sanctions on Friday, which is the eve of the second anniversary of Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“I told you we’d be announcing sanctions on Russia. We’ll have a major package announced on Friday, and I’ll be happy to sit with you all while doing that,” the POTUS said.
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Meanwhile, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby also talked about the sanctions plan, asserting “it’s clear that President [Vladimir] Putin and his government are responsible for Mr. Navalny’s death.”
“In response, at President Biden’s direction, we will be announcing a major sanctions package on Friday of this week to hold Russia accountable for what happened to Mr. Navalny and quite frankly, for all its actions over the course of this vicious and brutal war,” he said.
Elaborating more on sanctions, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan stated that the US will unveil “a substantial package covering a range of different elements of the Russian defense industrial base and sources of revenue for the Russian economy.”
“This is another turn of the crank, another turn of the wheel, and it is a range of targets — a significant range of targets that we have worked persistently and diligently to identify to continue to impose costs for what Russia has done — for what it’s done to Navalny, for what it’s done to Ukraine and for the threat that it represents to international peace and security,” he said during a press conference on Tuesday.
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‘Make no mistake’: Biden warns Russian President after Navalny’s death
Biden on Friday, February 16, held Putin responsible for Navalny’s death and warned there would be repercussions, asserting he was “not surprised” but “outraged” by the opposition leader’s passing.
“We don’t know exactly what happened, but there is no doubt that the death of Navalny was a consequence of something that Putin and his thugs did,” Biden said at the White House after Russia announced Navalny’s death.
“Russian authorities are going to tell their own story. But make no mistake. Make no mistake: Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death,” he added.
Hailing Navalny’s for “bravely” challenging Russian government’s “violence and corruption”, the US President said he was “contemplating” extra moves to punish Russia.
“We’re contemplating what else can be done. We’re looking at a whole number of options, that’s all I’ll say right now,” he told reporters.
