The Biden administration announced it is readying a “major sanctions package” against Russia in response to the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, according to national security spokesperson John Kirby. No details were given on the package, which is hardly surprising given that there’s very little left of the Russian economy that hasn’t already been sanctioned.
The sanctions will “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 that has now raged on for two years,” Kirby told reporters.
Kirby didn’t waste the opportunity to urge passage of the Ukraine funding bill, although what that has to do with Nvalny’s death is unclear. “One of the most powerful things that we can do right now to stand up to Vladimir Putin, of course, is to, again, pass the bipartisan national security supplemental bill and support Ukraine as they continue to fight bravely in defense of their country,” Kirby said.
US President Joe Biden said Putin was responsible for the death of Navalny, 47, a prominent voice against the Russian leader who had been imprisoned in the Arctic. In 2021, Biden said he had warned Putin during a summit meeting in Geneva of significant consequences if Navalny were to die in prison.
The US has already imposed significant sanctions impacting large swaths of Russia’s economy and prominent officials following the invasion of Ukraine, so it’s unclear whether the new measures would have a practical effect on Moscow.
Kirby went to great lengths to stress that, even though concrete evidence of Putin’s involvement in Navalny’s death may be lacking, the Russian president is responsible anyway. “Whatever story the Russian government decides to tell the world, it’s clear that President Putin and his government are responsible for Mr. Navalny’s death,” Mr. Kirby told reporters on Tuesday.
“Not setting aside the fact that, regardless of the, of the actual scientific answer, Mr. Putin is responsible for it. But absent some credible investigation into his death, it’s hard to get to a point where we can just take the Russians’ word for it,” Kirby said.
Mr. Navalny’s family has been denied permission to take possession of the body, and there is not going to be an independent autopsy. Take from that what you will.
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Despite the administration sanctioning almost every industry in Russia and penalizing all of Putin’s cronies as well as Putin himself, the Russian economy is thriving. The New York Times reports that “Just last month, the International Monetary Fund said Russia’s economy is actually growing faster than expected.”
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One of the reasons for Russia’s continued economic growth is the assistance of China and the purchase of massive amounts of oil by India. But Russia continues to stay solvent.
In response to a question about the effectiveness of previous sanctions, Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, maintained that the United States and its partners had “imposed the most severe sanctions on Russia that any economy of its size has ever faced.”
“We’ve kicked them out of the international organization and worked to isolate them on the world stage
Trying to stifle such a large and diverse economy as Russia is proving to be far more difficult than the administration thought.