WASHINGTON – The Biden administration is preparing to announce a “major sanctions package” against Russia later this week following the death of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny and renewed attacks on the Kremlin in eastern Ukraine. ing.
White House National Security Council Press Secretary John Kirby revealed the planned punishment on Tuesday, saying, “It’s clear the president has been punished.” [Vladimir] “President Putin and his government are responsible for Mr. Navalny’s death,” it said on February 16.
“In response, at the direction of President Biden, we are holding Russia accountable for what happened to Mr. Navalny and, frankly, for all of its actions over the course of this heinous and brutal war. We’re going to announce major sanctions this Friday,” Kirby said on a call with reporters.
Biden, 81, said in 2021 that he had warned Putin that there would be “catastrophic” consequences if Navalny died in custody, but spoke to reporters hours after news of the dissident’s death. He said this: During that time, they faced so many consequences. ”
The Russian government said Navalny, 47, who survived a nerve agent poisoning in 2020 that was believed to have been planned by the Kremlin, became unwell during a walk in the Arctic prison where he was being held, collapsed and died. It was announced that.
The democracy defender died months after another of Putin’s adversaries, mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, died in a fiery plane crash outside Moscow in August in connection with a suspected assassination. Two months earlier, Prigozhin had organized a short-lived uprising against Putin’s government and marched toward the Russian capital with Wagner Group fighters.
Since the February 24, 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the White House has ratcheted up sanctions against Russian officials and related businessmen, but Biden also warned of dire consequences if Putin goes ahead with the expected attack. In response to a warning that this would occur.
Biden similarly threatened in a press conference shortly before the invasion, saying, “He has not seen the kind of sanctions that he promised would be imposed if he moved.”
At the same press conference, Biden said NATO’s response would be unclear if there was only a “small invasion” by Russia, a comment Kiev officials said gave Putin the “green light” to launch an attack. surprised me.
So far, two Russian billionaires connected to the Biden family’s business ventures have been removed from the growing list of sanctions.
Yelena Baturina, a real estate mogul and widow of Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, was arrested in 2014 and 2015 after transferring $3.5 million to an account controlled by her son Hunter Biden and Hunter’s business. He is said to have dined with President Joe Biden at least once, and possibly twice. Her partner is Devon Archer.
Archer said in July House testimony that Baturina’s company, Inteco, had separately invested nearly $120 million in his company, Rosemont Realty, which Hunter Biden was also involved with at one point. Ta.
Another Russian billionaire, Vladimir Yevtushenkov, admitted in 2022 that he met with Hunter Biden about a potential real estate investment in 2012, when his father was vice president. The two were scheduled to meet again in 2013 at Cafe Milano in Washington, D.C., according to records on Hunter’s discarded laptop. It was the same venue where Joe Biden twice attended gatherings of his son’s partners in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
A person familiar with the matter told the Post that Mr. Yevtushenkov, whose Sistema business empire, which until recently included Russian rocket and radar maker RTI and military drone maker Kronstadt, was under pressure from the U.S. government. It is said that she explicitly courted her second son at the time, seeking potential favor.
“I asked [Yevtushenkov], ‘Why are you doing this? ‘On the front end, before they knew they were going to buy the property,’ the source said. “He told me very clearly, you know… ‘I think it’s good to have a good relationship with this person… maybe he’ll do us a favor. And we might be able to do him a favor, too.’ The payoff he wanted was complete.”
“I told him that doesn’t work in America. [but] He basically laughed at me and told me I was so naive,” the source recalled.
