WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden on Friday announced more than 500 sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine war and last week's death in prison of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The government announced that this would be the largest since the civil war began.
Biden said the sanctions would target those involved in Navalny's imprisonment, as well as Russia's financial sector, defense industrial base, procurement networks and sanctions evaders across multiple continents.
Biden said in a statement about the sanctions, “President Putin will pay an even steeper price for his aggression abroad and his repression at home.'' He pointed out that it was timed to coincide with the second anniversary of the invasion.
Biden also said the United States is taking steps to impose export restrictions on about 100 companies that support Russia's military efforts and reduce Russia's energy revenues.
“I have directed my team to strengthen our support for civil society, independent media, and those fighting for democracy around the world,” he added.
Biden said Ukraine was “running low on ammunition” and stressed the need for Congress to pass the Senate's foreign aid package. The president said Ukraine needs further supplies from the United States to “counter Russia's relentless aggression,” which is made possible by ammunition and weapons from Iran and North Korea.
“That's why the House must pass this bipartisan national security supplement before it's too late,” Biden said.
Biden reiterated that call at an event with the nation's governors later that morning, criticizing the House for going on “vacation” without taking action on the bill. The House of Representatives is currently in recess, with MPs returning to their home districts. Biden encouraged governors to force their state legislators to bring the bill to the House for a vote.
Biden said the United States must defend freedom and prove to the world that it will “never bow to anyone, especially President Putin.”
The president mentioned the sanctions to governors, drawing widespread applause, and said they were part of efforts to respond to Putin's “brutal war of conquest” in Ukraine and Navalny's death. “Make no mistake about it, President Putin is responsible for Alexei's death,” Biden said.
In a release detailing the sanctions, the Treasury Department said its Office of Foreign Assets Control was targeting approximately 300 individuals and entities. Combined with the State Department's actions, the administration's actions bring the total number of sanctions to more than 500, making them the largest sanctions imposed on Russia since Russia invaded Ukraine, the statement said.
The Treasury Department also noted that the State Department had named three senior Russian government officials in connection with Navalny's death, without identifying them. Meanwhile, the Department of Commerce has placed trade restrictions on more than 90 companies.
Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told reporters Thursday night that the sanctions are aimed at two things: “One, to reduce Russia's revenue; two, to reduce the production of the weapons Russia wants.” The goal is to deny Russia access to supplies needed for the war. “
Mr. Adeyemo said previous U.S. sanctions had been effective, with the country's oil revenues falling by 40% and Russia struggling to obtain supplies needed to manufacture weapons.
“Essentially, our strategy is to not only delay Russia's ability to produce the weapons it wants, but also to increase the ability of Ukrainians to defend themselves by providing them with weapons and resources to build their economy. It also includes,” Adeyemo said.
He added that people would not recognize many of the hundreds of names on the sanctions list, saying, “Since the first round of sanctions, Russia has used its intelligence services to evade our actions. They have sought ways to procure the supplies they need to resupply,'' both on the battlefield and now at home. ”
Ademeyo said Russia's wartime transformations allowed the United States to target highly concentrated production in “new and efficient ways.” “With such vertical integration, we have the potential to damage the entire supply chain, and any attempt to strengthen the military industrial base will only make the supply chain even more vulnerable. All production in Russia is now fair game if we are to turn it into a private company.''
The sanctions package, which the president previewed on Tuesday, comes just a week after Russian prison authorities announced that Mr. Navalny, 47, had died in a Russian penal colony high above the Arctic Circle. He was serving a total of more than 30 years in prison on charges of extremism and fraud, which he denied.
Mr. Biden met with Mr. Navalny's wife, Yulia Navalnaya, and his daughter, Dasha, in California on Thursday.
Mr Navalny's mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, said in a video statement on Thursday that she had been allowed access to her son's body in the morgue, but that a lawyer could not accompany her. She claimed that Russian authorities had “blackmailed” her by threatening to “do something to the body” if she did not agree to a secret funeral.
