Washington:
The US will announce a major package of sanctions against Russia on Friday over the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny and the two-year war in Ukraine, President Joe Biden said on Tuesday.
Biden gave no details when speaking to reporters as he left for a trip to California.
The latest sanctions on Russia will target a range of issues, including the country's defense and industrial bases, along with sources of revenue for the economy, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said.
The package will “hold Russia accountable for what happened to Mr. Navalny” and for its actions over the course of the war in Ukraine, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.
A senior US official said a sanctions package was already being planned to mark the second anniversary of the war, which Washington will now reconsider and supplement in response to Navalny's death.
Undersecretary of State for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson is discussing sanctions following Navalny's death during a trip to Europe this week, two sources familiar with the matter said.
During visits to Germany, Belgium and France ahead of the second anniversary of the war in Ukraine, Nelson also discussed Washington's authority to target those financing Russia's war production efforts, even if they were in third countries, it said Ministry of Finance. It said the US is “aggressively pursuing those who attempt to evade our sanctions.”
The United States has already imposed a wide range of sanctions related to Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, including against Russian President Vladimir Putin, officials and banks.
Washington also previously imposed sanctions over the 2020 poisoning and imprisonment of Navalny, including people 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 walking through the 'Polar Wolf' penal colony above the Arctic Circle, where he was serving a three-decade prison sentence, the prison service said.
Kirby said in a conference call with reporters that the United States is pressing Russia for “full transparency” about how Navalny died last Friday. Biden has blamed Putin.
“Whatever story the Russian government decides to tell the world, it is clear that President Putin and his government are responsible for Mr. Navalny's death,” Kirby said.
The U.S. Embassy in Moscow has been seeking more information about Navalny's death, Kirby said, “but it's difficult to reach a point where you can have confidence in what the Russians would say about his death.”
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