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Joe Biden has met with the family of Alexei Navalny, following the recent death of the political activist in a Russian prison.
The president met with Yulia Navalnaya and Dasha Navalnaya on Thursday during a trip to San Francisco, California, and promised to honour the legacy of the late Russian dissident.
“The President expressed his admiration for Aleksey Navalny’s extraordinary courage and his legacy of fighting against corruption and for a free and democratic Russia in which the rule of law applies equally to everyone,” a statement from the White House read.
“The President emphasized that Aleksey’s legacy will carry on through people across Russia and around the world mourning his loss and fighting for freedom, democracy, and human rights.
During the meeting, the White House said, Mr Biden affirmed that his administration will announce major new sanctions against Russia on Friday, in response to Navalny’s death, Russia’s repression and aggression, and the “brutal and illegal” war in Ukraine.
“We already have sanctions, but we are considering additional sanctions, yes,” Mr Biden said previously, noting that while the US was unsure of the circumstances of Navalny’s death were unclear, that it was “a consequence of something that Putin and his thugs did”.
Western leaders have echoed this, saying the blame lies with Russian authorities including president Vladimir Putin. Ms Navalnaya, Mr Navalny’s wife, has said she believes her husband was poisoned with Novichok.
That was after Russian prison authorities announced earlier on Friday last week that Mr Navalny “felt unwell” after going for a walk and became unconscious “almost immediately”.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby declined to share any details regarding the new sanctions or how they would interact with the strong sanctions already put in place following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Kirby said the sanctions will be “specifically supplemented with additional sanctions regarding Mr Navalny’s death.” Similar to the US president, Mr Kirby placed responsibility for the death at the feet of Russian authorities.
“Regardless of the scientific answer, Putin’s responsible for it,” he told the press.
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