Joe Biden, the President of the United States, has announced that his administration will announce new sanctions against Russia this Friday in response to the death of opponent Alexei Navalni. The president announced his decision at a meeting in San Francisco with the activist's widow, Yulia Navalnaya, and one of the couple's daughters, Dasha, who is studying at Stanford University. At the meeting, the president expressed his condolences and paid tribute to “the courage” and legacy left behind by Navalni, who died on February 16 in a prison in the Arctic Circle.
The president assured that the fight started by Vladimir Putin's enemy will live on in Russia and around the world by those who mourn Navalny's death and believe in the values of freedom, democracy and human rights. “The President expressed his admiration for the extraordinary courage and legacy in the fight against corruption and for a free and democratic Russia where all are equal before the law,” the White House said in a statement.
Yulia Navalnaya wants to take over the baton left by her husband at the head of the opposition movement against Putin. The activist posted a message early Thursday morning from California, where she is performing with her daughter. “I came to hug you and support you. You are so strong, brave and resilient. “We will definitely take care of everything,” Navalnaya posted on X, formerly Twitter. Dasha came to Stanford University in 2019 to study psychology. Today she is an associate professor at the school.
Biden has said he has no doubt that Putin was behind Navalny's death. Since the beginning of this week, his government has indicated that it is preparing a new series of sanctions against Moscow. John Kirby, the national security spokesman, had confirmed that the measures would be announced this Friday, a week after the death of the 47-year-old opponent and as part of Russia's two-year invasion of Ukraine.
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Ð¢Ð°ÐºÐ°Ñ Ñ Ð¸Ð»ÑŒÐ½Ð°Ñ , Ñ Ð¼ÐµÐ»Ð°Ñ Ð¸ Ñ Ñ‚Ð¾Ð¹ÐºÐ°Ñ . Мы Ð¾Ð±Ñ Ð·Ð°Ñ‚ÐµÐ»ÑŒÐ½Ð¾ Ñ Ð¾ Ð²Ñ ÐµÐ¼ Ñ Ð¿Ñ€Ð°Ð²Ð¸Ð¼Ñ Ñ , роднР°Ñ . Как хорошо, что Ñ‚Ñ‹ Ñ€Ñ Ð´Ð¾Ð¼. Люблю. pic.twitter.com/FzDbrykUjH— Yulia Navalnaya (@yulia_navalnaya) February 22, 2024
The CEO did not detail what the new measures would consist of. From Washington, however, the Undersecretary of the Treasury, Wally Adeyemo, gave some clues in an interview with the Portal agency. “There will be hundreds of sanctions here in the United States alone, but it is important to remember that it is not just this country that has taken these actions,” the official said. The Biden administration and its allies have set 500 targets in the Russian defense industry and companies in other countries that support Putin's regime.
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On Wednesday, Biden called Putin a “crazy son of a bitch” in a closed-door meeting. The president insulted his Russian counterpart at a fundraiser at the mansion of Gordon Getty, the fourth son of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty. At this event, the President spoke on several topics, including the climate emergency. “It’s the last existential threat.” It’s the weather. “We have a crazy son of a bitch like Putin and others, and we always have to worry about nuclear conflict, but the existential threat to humanity is climate,” Biden told a group of donors.
Kirby defended the president this Friday, making sure Biden described the autocrat in “simple and direct” terms. “We must address the threat (…) in a clear, direct and transparent manner,” emphasized the national security spokesman in Washington.
It's not the first time Biden has made an insult. Although he speaks in a whisper and is criticized for his age, the 81-year-old politician has a volcanic character, as the American press has repeatedly documented. Axios asserted last year that the president was short-circuiting and that several of his advisers avoided being alone with him to avoid shouting and outbursts.
In January 2022, Biden insulted a Fox News White House correspondent with a “son of a bitch.” He has also made more than negative comments against the Chinese government and Israel, one of the United States' key allies in the Middle East. In another private meeting, he called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an “idiot” for the bloody offensive he is carrying out in Gaza. This Wednesday, the president said the Republican Party once had a “moral center, but it seems to have lost it.”
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