The White House is gearing up to impose further “major sanctions” on Russia following the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in an Arctic penal colony.
John Kirby, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, announced on Tuesday that the new set of sanctions would be disclosed this Friday. Kirby refrained from providing specifics on the upcoming actions, adhering to US government policy, and did not elaborate on how these measures would build upon the existing stringent sanctions imposed by the US and its allies in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Kirby said only that the sanctions, which will coincide with the two-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion, will be “specifically supplemented with additional sanctions regarding Mr. Navalny’s death.”
Kirby said the US had not determined how Navalny had died, but insisted that the ultimate responsibility lies with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Regardless of the scientific answer, Putin’s responsible for it,” he told reporters.
The Treasury Department declined to comment on the details of the upcoming sanctions Brian Nelson, the department’s Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, is in Europe this week to continue working on Russia sanctions ahead of the two year anniversary.