Biden Administration Aanctions Russia over Navalny Poisoning
Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) is facing sanctions from the administration of US President Joe Biden over the 2020 poisoning of a Russian dissident. Source.
The Biden administration has drawn a clear line in the sand against Russia as they placed sanctions on a variety of mid-level and senior-level officials, in addition to more than 24 Russian governmental agencies, due to the connection between these actors and the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny last August.
Navalny’s poisoning occurred while Trump was still in office, but because of Trump and Putin’s close-knit relationship, Russia did not suffer any repercussions. Since the Biden administration has taken office, they have pledged to hold Russia responsible for a variety of alleged actions ranging from interfering into the United States’ 2016 presidential election, the continuous hacking of U.S. businesses and government agencies, to the Russian bounties to Taliban fighters placed on American soldiers in Afghanistan. After four years of Russia having freedom from the possibility of punishment, the Biden administration’s sanctions show that there will be consequences for actions that endanger the United States or violate global laws, which may lead towards a much rockier relationship between the U.S. and Russia.
Russian agents and agencies are being sanctioned due to the use of a banned chemical weapon, Novichok. This chemical weapon was determined to be the cause of Navalny’s poisoning by the German doctors who assisted in Navalny’s recovery. Put simply, the sanctions are in place for two reasons, the treatment of opposition leader Navalny has been anti-democratic and indecent to say the least, and these actions are especially malicious when banned chemical weaponry is being used to accomplish a hit on a political opponent.
Since the Kremlin was unsuccessful in carrying out a murder plot against Navalny, upon his return back home to Russia from Germany, where he was recovering after being poisoned, Navalny was arrested on charges for violating his parole. This parole ruling came from a 2014 court decision on supposed fraud. Since the 2014 ruling, Navalny was supposed to check in with Russian police twice a month, which was impossible while he was recovering in Germany. Navalany has been an outspoken critic of Putin since 2008, so many believe this prison sentence is acting as a way to keep Navalny quiet. After his trial concerning this infraction, Navalny was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison.
Since Navalny’s prison sentence, Biden and his administration have repeatedly called for the opposition leader’s release, which has usually been met with accusations of meddling in Russia’s internal affairs in combination with the sanctions. It is unclear what will happen to Navalny at this point, it seems likely he will have to serve his entire prison sentence, at an infamously brutal penal camp, as the only reaction coming from Russia concerning the sanctions was that Russia will respond in kind.
The U.S. has worked with the EU and the UK to match sanctions in a united front, which has included freezing assets and instating travel bans. These sanctions have been used to target high level officials and law enforcement agents. The government officials included at least four people that Navalny’s supporters had identified as targeting Navalny himself and other dissidents. Yet, the sanction list did not include Russia’s most powerful businesspeople, which Navalny has noted would be necessary to get the attention of Putin.
Biden does not view Russia or Putin particularly favorably, and famously noted that the U.S. will no longer “roll over in the face of Russia’s aggressive actions.” Biden’s first call with Putin in January demonstrated some hope for positive relations concerning the New START Nuclear Weapons Treaty, but Biden also does not maintain any grand goals for the improvement of the relationship, he just wants to manage the difficulties and keep it stable seemingly.
The treatment of Russia by the Biden administration is a stark change from Trump’s treatment. Rather than viewing Russia as a partner like Trump did, Biden seems to be reverting back to treating Russia cautiously and carefully, more similar to an adversary than an ally. These sanctions did not seem to be particularly effective at causing any change within Russia, but they did mark the first of many planned actions by the Biden administration. The U.S.’ relationship with Russia under the Biden administration is bound to be a challenging one as Russia readjusts to being held accountable for their own actions.