Biden will announce ‘major’ new sanctions to hold Putin accountable for Alexei Navalny’s death: White House unveils new package against Russian tyrant after chief critic was ‘tortured and murdered’ in prison

The White House will announce a “major sanctions package” against Russian President Vladimir Putin to hold him responsible for the death of Alexei Navalny and the two-year war in Ukraine.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday that the new package will be unveiled next Friday. He declined to detail the sanctions or say how they would expand tough sanctions that the U.S. and its allies have already imposed on Russia in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine.

“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. “In response, and at President Biden’s direction, we will announce a major sanctions package on Friday this week to hold Russia accountable.”

The new sanctions will fall on the two-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Navalny died in prison on Friday. His death, a month before the Russian presidential elections, shocked the world.

Russian authorities said Navalny’s cause of death at the age of 47 is still unknown – and the results of any investigation are likely to be questioned abroad. Many Western leaders have already said they hold Putin responsible for the deaths.

Kirby said the US had not determined how Navalny died, but stressed that ultimate responsibility for the Russian opposition leader’s death rests with Putin.

“Regardless of the scientific answer, Putin is responsible for it,” he said.

Navalny’s widow vowed Monday to continue his fight against the Kremlin, while authorities denied his mother access to a morgue where his body is believed to be held after his death.

Her voice cracking at times in a video posted to social media, Yulia Navalnaya accused Putin of killing her husband in the remote prison and claimed officials’ refusal to hand over the body to her mother-in-law was part of a cover-up. upwards.

Navalny’s death has deprived the Russian opposition of its most famous and inspiring politician, less than a month before elections that will almost certainly give Putin another six years in power.

It was a devastating blow to many Russians, who had seen Navalny as a rare hope for political change amid Putin’s relentless crackdown on the opposition.

He had been jailed since January 2021 when he returned to Moscow after recovering in Germany from a nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin.

He received three prison sentences Since his arrest, he has dismissed a number of charges as politically motivated.

“They are cowardly and mean and hide his body, refuse to give it to his mother and lie miserably waiting for the trail of the poison to disappear,” Navalnaya said, suggesting her husband may have been killed with a nerve agent in the Novichok style.

In this image, taken from a video released by the Navalny Team on Monday, February 19, 2024, Yulia Navalnaya, widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, gives a video message calling on Russian citizens to join her in the fight against Putin

The US will announce new sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday

Meanwhile, Kirby also echoed the White House’s repeated calls for Congress to pass additional funding for aid to Ukraine.

“Of course, one of the most powerful things we can do now to stand up to Vladimir Putin is to reauthorize the bipartisan Supplemental National Security Act and support Ukraine as the country continues to fight,” he said.

The Senate has approved $60 billion in aid for Ukraine, but House Speaker Mike Johnson is delaying action on that side of the Capitol.

Ukraine has suffered significant battlefield setbacks from Russian forces, which U.S. officials have attributed to the lack of supplies for Ukrainian forces.

“We need additional funding. We absolutely need additional funding to continue supporting Ukraine,” Kirby said.

Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelenskiy said delays in military aid have made life “very difficult” for its soldiers Russia benefits from the American struggle.

“The situation is extremely difficult in several parts of the front line, where Russian forces have amassed maximum reserves,” he said in a late-night speech on Monday.

The Russians are “benefiting from the delays in aid to Ukraine,” he added.

Johnson has insisted that he must first sit down with President Biden discuss whether border security should be tied to the deal. The House of Representatives is currently in recess and will not return until the middle of next week.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said his message to Johnson was to “step up” and hold the vote. He gave a closed-door briefing to lawmakers on Capitol Hill last week on the situation in Ukraine.

“At this point we must combine the basic words of support for our allies and partners with the action to put this to a vote. That is the duty of the speaker. That’s what he has to do. And he cannot avoid it or hide from it. He has to step up and do it,” Sullivan said in a briefing with reporters on Tuesday.

“There is no magic solution to this congressional absence by appropriating funding. It is not that we have a piggy bank in which we only have money lying around that we can provide to Ukraine. We need Congress to fulfill its constitutional obligation to appropriate and obligate funds that the president can then use to send weapons made by American workers and American states to Ukraine.”

And Kirby indicated that lawmakers should come back to Washington to pass the relief package.

“As we have said, several weeks ago he had spoken to Chairman Johnson and other congressional leaders, including at the White House, about the importance of this additional funding,” he said. ‘The Speaker got exactly what he wanted and then decided he didn’t want it.”

‘Goods at a critical moment. And I believe the president’s comments and willingness to have another conversation with the chairman reflect the sense of urgency that we all know and believe we’re in, and frankly we think Congress should believe we’re in sitting, instead of being on holiday. ,” he added.

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan arrives for a briefing at the U.S. Capitol on February 14

Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) greets US President Joe Biden (right) during the 2021 US-Russia Summit at the La Grange Villa near Lake Geneva, on June 16, 2021

“Whatever story the Russian government decides to tell the world, it is clear that President Putin and his administration are responsible for Mr. Navalny’s death,” White House spokesman John Kirby said. “In response, and at President Biden’s direction, we will announce a major sanctions package on Friday this week to hold Russia accountable.”

Help from other allies is on its way to Ukraine.

The European Union approved some $54 billion for Ukraine earlier this month. Sweden announced its largest aid package yet on Tuesday and Canada said it is accelerating the delivery of more than 800 drones.

Biden, meanwhile, attacked House Republicans for leaving town for nearly two weeks without approving aid.

‘It’s time for them to take action, don’t you think? – instead of going on vacation for two weeks,” Biden said on Friday. ‘They’ll be running away in two weeks. Two weeks. What are they thinking? My God, this is bizarre.’