By Sam Fossum, Priscilla Alvarez and Kevin Liptak | CNN
The Biden administration will impose a recent slate of sanctions on greater than 500 targets on Friday in response to the loss of life of opposition determine Alexey Navalny and on the eve of Russia’s two-year war in Ukraine, in line with a Treasury official.
The sanctions mark the most recent transfer by the administration to levy penalties in opposition to Russia amid heightened tensions between the 2 international locations.
Talking Tuesday, US nationwide safety adviser Jake Sullivan mentioned the brand new measures could be a “substantial package deal” that covers a variety of components linked to the Russian protection industrial base and sources of income for the Russian economic system that energy the nation’s “conflict machine.”
President Joe Biden teased the sanctions earlier Thursday, saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin was “accountable” for Navalny’s loss of life. The feedback got here shortly after he met in San Francisco with Navalny’s widow and daughter.
Biden has repeatedly condemned Putin and known as him “a crazy SOB” throughout a fundraiser in San Francisco on Wednesday, in line with the pool reporters touring with the US president.
“We have now a loopy SOB that man, Putin, others. And we at all times need to be frightened a couple of nuclear battle. However the existential menace to humanity is local weather,” Biden instructed these gathered on the fundraiser. The Kremlin, in response, mentioned Biden’s feedback had been a “big shame” for the USA.
Sullivan described the package deal as “one other flip of the crank” after withering Western sanctions on Moscow for the reason that begin of the Ukraine conflict. Whereas these sanctions have hampered Russia’s economic system, they haven’t deterred Putin from continuing with the invasion.
The US, together with different Western governments, has levied a collection of sanctions in opposition to Russia in recent times, however Russia has tailored to them. Putin has taken to gloating about Russia’s resistance to worldwide sanctions, which take time to have an impact.
US officers had been working on a new sanctions package on Russia forward of Navalny’s loss of life and supplemented them within the wake of the opposition chief’s loss of life, in line with a senior US official, including that US officers coordinated with European companions on the brand new package deal.
Reuters first reported the variety of targets sanctioned.
This story has been up to date with further particulars.
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