‘Will ensure Vladimir Putin pays steeper price for…’: Joe Biden slaps 500 sanctions on Russia over Alexei Navalny death

United States President Joe Biden on Friday announced nearly 500 new sanctions against Russia over its continued invasion of Ukraine and in response to the custodial death of Vladimir Putin's vocal critic and prominent Opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

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The sanctions will target people linked to Navalny's imprisonment and Russia's war machine, said President Biden. The fresh tranche of curbs against Russia has come on the second anniversary of the Ukraine invasion and has been described by the Treasury Department as the largest single tranche since the start of the war.

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Apart from targetting individuals linked to Navalny's imprisonment, Washington's fresh set of sanctions on the Kremlin is likely to focus on its financial sector, defence industrial base, procurement networks and sanctions evaders across multiple continents, Joe Biden said.

"They will ensure Putin pays an even steeper price for his aggression abroad and repression at home," the US president said in a statement.

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"We are also imposing new export restrictions on nearly 100 entities for providing backdoor support for Russia's war machine," he stated.

Biden attacks Putin on Navalny's death

Biden declared emphatically that he considers Putin responsible for the death of Navalny, 47, who barely survived a 2020 poisoning he blamed on government agents. Biden further revealed that he had met Navalny's widow and daughter privately in California.

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After meeting Yulia and Dasha Navalnaya, Biden said that Navalny was “a man of incredible courage.” The death of Putin's opponent has sparked global criticism with many European governments summoning Russian diplomats to protest the death of Navalny. Moreover, Britain has imposed sanctions on six officials at the remote Siberian penal colony where he died.

Biden urges Congress to fund new military aid to Ukraine

During the announcement of new sanctions, Biden also made a plea for Congress to fund new military aid to Ukraine. The appeal was made after the US military support to Ukraine dried up due to a political impasse in Congress, with Russia recently scoring a key battlefield gain.

Despite the war with Ukraine, the Russian economy is likely to grow this year, even though at a lower scale as the country adapts and relies on trade with non-Western partners, especially China.