US national security adviser Jake Sullivan says the United States is preparing “another package of sanctions” on Russia over the recent jailing of opposition figure Alexei Navalny.
He made the comments in an interview with CNN on Sunday, days after Russian President Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart, Joe Biden met in Geneva.
Russia's most prominent opposition figure Alexei Navalny jailed for 30 days, after returning to Moscow for first time since poisoning https://t.co/qEE7R79NTh
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) January 18, 2021
“I think it's very important for your viewers to understand that we have sanctioned Russia for the poisoning of Alexei Navalny," Sullivan responded. “We rallied European allies in a joint effort to impose costs on Russia for the use of a chemical agent against one of their citizens on Russian soil. And we are preparing another package of sanctions to apply in this case as well.”
The US has previously imposed sanctions over the imprisonment of the Russian opposition figure and blogger.
“We will take a backseat to no one. It will come as soon as we have developed the packages to ensure that we are getting the right targets. And when we do that, we will impose further sanctions with respect to chemical weapons.”
Navalny had accused the Federal Security Service FSB of poisoning him during his visit to the Siberian city of Tomsk in August 2020.
The US embassy in Moscow published the routes of the protests in support of Russia's far-right fringe opposition figure Alexei Navalny.
— Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) January 24, 2021
Just in case it wasn't already as clear as could be who his imperial sponsors arehttps://t.co/cWoI5Zc4mx
He has claimed the poisoning was carried out on the direct order of President Vladimir Putin, allegations dismissed by Moscow.
After returning to Moscow in mid-January, he was immediately detained by authorities on charges of violating parole while abroad.
Moscow has previously brushed off US threats of repercussions over Navalny.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
