The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden is preparing to impose sanctions on Russia in light of the poisoning and imprisonment of Kremlin opposition figure Alexei Navalny.
CNN reported, citing two officials from the U.S. administration, that the United States will coordinate with the European Union to determine the details and precise timing of the sanctions. One possible option, according to one of the officials, is to issue an executive order launching sanctions against Russia due to repeated attacks on American democracy, including the cyberattack targeting SolarWinds and Moscow's offer of rewards for killing American soldiers in Afghanistan.
These will be the first sanctions Biden imposes on Russia, contrasting with the approach of his predecessor Donald Trump. Trump was repeatedly accused of being lenient towards Russian President Vladimir Putin, a sentiment that was particularly evident during their summit in Helsinki in 2018, when he expressed support for Putin's claim that Moscow did not interfere in the 2016 U.S. elections, contrary to assessments from U.S. intelligence agencies.
On Monday, the European Union adopted sanctions against four senior Russian officials, while two United Nations human rights experts called for an international investigation into Navalny's poisoning and his immediate release.
Russian authorities imprisoned Navalny last month upon his return to Moscow from Germany, where he spent several months recovering from poisoning with a banned nerve agent that he accused Putin of orchestrating, a claim that the Kremlin denied. Navalny's imprisonment sparked nationwide protests, resulting in the detention of several demonstrators amid Western calls for his release.
European diplomatic sources reported that the foreign ministers of EU member states agreed to impose new sanctions on Russia in response to the crackdown on the Kremlin's foremost opposition figure and his supporters.
