'Major' Russia Sanctions Coming This Week, Biden Says

The U.S. will announce "major" new sanctions against Russia this week, President Joe Biden told reporters Feb. 20 before leaving on a campaign trip. He said his administration will be releasing new sanctions on Russia as part of a package that will be announced Feb. 23.

Biden's comments came days after he said he was considering options to respond to the reported death in prison of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny (see 2402160065). The sanctions will partly be in response to Navalny's death and partly to mark the two-year anniversary of Russia's continued war against Ukraine, which is on Feb. 23, National Security Adviser Jake Sullvian told reporters Feb. 20.

"It will be a substantial package covering a range of different elements of the Russian defense industrial base and sources of revenue for the Russian economy that power Russia’s war machine, that power Russia’s aggression, and that power Russia’s repression," he said. "So we believe it will have an impact." He added that the designations will target a "significant range of targets that we have worked persistently and diligently to identify, to continue to impose costs for what Russia has done."

The U.S. last year rolled out a sweeping set of export controls and sanctions to mark the one-year anniversary of the invasion, including additions to the Entity List, an expansion of industry sector restrictions on both Russia and Belarus, new export controls against Iran, new financial sanctions against more than 100 people and entities, and more (see 2302240028).