U.S. and EU impose sanctions on Russia over Navalny poisoning, jailing

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U.S. and EU impose sanctions on Russia over Navalny poisoning, jailing

By Steve Holland and Arshad Mohammed

 

FILE PHOTO: Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny attends a hearing to consider an appeal against an earlier court decision to change his suspended sentence to a real prison term, in Moscow, Russia February 20, 2021. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions to punish Russia for what it described as Moscow's attempt to poison opposition leader Alexei Navalny with a nerve agent last year, in President Joe Biden's most direct challenge yet to the Kremlin.

 

The sanctions against seven senior Russian officials, among them the head of its FSB security service, and on 14 entities marked a sharp departure from former President Donald Trump's reluctance to confront Russian President Vladimir Putin.

 

Navalny, 44, fell ill on a flight in Siberia in August and was airlifted to Germany, where doctors concluded he had been poisoned with a nerve agent. The Kremlin has denied any role in his illness and said it had seen no proof he was poisoned.

 

Navalny was arrested in January on his return from Germany following treatment for poisoning with what many Western countries say was a military-grade nerve agent. He was jailed on Feb. 2 for parole violations on what he says were politically motivated charges, and sent to a penal colony on Monday.

 

"The (U.S.) intelligence community assesses with high confidence that officers of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) used a nerve agent to poison Russian opposition leader Alexi Navalny," White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, discussing the sanctions.

 

Among those blacklisted by the U.S. Treasury Department were Alexander Bortnikov, director of the FSB; Andrei Yarin, chief of the Kremlin's domestic policy directorate; and deputy ministers of defense Alexei Krivoruchko and Pavel Popov.

 

The Treasury also said it blacklisted Sergei Kiriyenko, a former prime minister who is now Putin's first deputy chief of staff; Alexander Kalashnikov, director of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service; and Prosecutor-General Igor Krasnov.

 

As a result, all assets of the seven under U.S. jurisdiction are frozen and U.S. persons are generally barred from dealing with them. In addition, any foreigner who knowingly "facilitates a significant transaction" for them risks being sanctioned.

 

It was unclear whether the seven had U.S. assets, making it hard to judge whether the sanctions were more than symbolic.

 

"We also reiterate our call for the Russian government to release Mr. Navalny," said the spokeswoman.

 

The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions to punish Russia for what it described as Moscow's attempt to poison opposition leader Alexei Navalny with a nerve agent last year. Lisa Bernhard produced this report.

 

 

Psaki defended the decision not to sanction Putin or Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who U.S. intelligence believes approved an operation to capture or kill murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, saying this reflected a need "to be able to maintain a relationship moving forward."

 

Navalny, a critic and political opponent of Putin, was targeted for raising raise questions about Russian corruption and was the latest example of Russian efforts to silence dissent, U.S. officials told reporters on a conference call.

 

"Russia’s attempt to kill Mr. Navalny follows an alarming pattern of chemical weapons use by Russia," a senior U.S. official told reporters on a call, referring to the March 2018 poisoning of former Russian military intelligence officer Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, England with a military-grade nerve agent.

 

In addition 14 entities associated with Russia's biological and chemical agent production, including 13 commercial parties - nine in Russia, three in Germany and one in Switzerland - and a Russian government research institute, were hit with punitive measures.

 

The United States acted in concert with the European Union, which on Tuesday imposed largely symbolic sanctions on four senior Russian officials close to Putin, a move agreed by EU ministers last week in response to Navalny's jailing.

 

The EU sanctions apply to Alexander Bastrykin, whose Investigative Committee handles major criminal probes and reports to Putin; Viktor Zolotov, head of Russia's National Guard who threatened Navalny with violence in 2018; as well as to Krasnov and Kalashnikov.

 

The EU sanctions fall short of calls by Navalny's supporters to punish wealthy businessmen around Putin known as oligarchs who travel regularly to the EU.

 

Unlike Western sanctions imposed on Russia's economy in 2014 in response to its annexation of Crimea, travel bans and asset freezes have less impact, experts say, because state officials do not have funds in EU banks or travel to the EU.

 

Further sanctions are likely as the United States assesses the Russian role in the massive SolarWinds cyber hack and allegations that Russia sought to interfere in the 2020 U.S. election and offered bounties to Taliban fighters to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan, U.S. officials said.

 

Biden has taken a tougher approach to Putin than Trump.

 

"We expect this relationship to remain a challenge," said a U.S. official, saying Washington would work with Moscow when it served U.S. interests. "Given Russia’s conduct in recent months and years, there will also undoubtedly be adversarial elements."

 

Before the U.S. announcement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow would respond in kind to any new U.S. sanctions over Navalny, the Interfax news agency reported.

 

Speaking after the announcement, Russia's envoy to the European Union, Vladimir Chizov, said Moscow would respond to the latest round of EU sanctions, RIA news agency reported.

 

(Reporting by Steve Holland and Arshad Mohammed; Additional reporting by Nandita Bose, Humeyra Pamuk, Daphne Psaledakis and Heather Timmons in Wahington, Marine Strauss and Robin Emmott in Brussels, and Andrey Ostroukh in Moscow; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Alistair Bell)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-03-03

 

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[Tug]

Be nice to pull a Putin and kidnap them to put them on trial what a nasty evil dude that Putin is

[stevenl]

I don't believe these sanctions will have any effect, but glad to see the USA and the EU are operating together again.

[stevenl]

11 hours ago, Victornoir said:

In my eyes this Navalny affair is suspicious and I will be unable to distinguish between reality and propaganda.

Moreover, it is a procedure purely internal to Russia, without prejudice to the West and therefore without legitimacy to entail sanctions.

Cold War which does not dare to say its name. The objective is to prevent the economic emergence of Russia, but the likely consequence will be to push it into the welcoming arms of China.

I don't see how government murder attempts in a foreign country classify as internal.

[Morch]

9 hours ago, stevenl said:

I don't see how government murder attempts in a foreign country classify as internal.

 

I was under the impression that Navalny was poisoned in Russia. Could have missed something, or maybe this was a reference to past instances?

[Kwasaki]

On 3/3/2021 at 7:15 AM, Tug said:

Be nice to pull a Putin and kidnap them to put them on trial what a nasty evil dude that Putin is

You have met him to make that judgement or do you just like to hear what want to hear. 

[Kwasaki]

10 hours ago, stevenl said:

I don't see how government murder attempts in a foreign country classify as internal.

How do you know it was the Russian govt because US govt says so. 

 

Putin openly said when asked if his govt ordered the kill of Navalny,  he answered if my govt was ordered to kill Navalny we would of finished the job. 

[stevenl]

42 minutes ago, Morch said:

 

I was under the impression that Navalny was poisoned in Russia. Could have missed something, or maybe this was a reference to past instances?

You're right, I was confused with Skripal.

[stevenl]

16 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

How do you know it was the Russian govt because US govt says so. 

 

Putin openly said when asked if his govt ordered the kill of Navalny,  he answered if my govt was ordered to kill Navalny we would of finished the job. 

Right, like with Skripal.

[Morch]

29 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

How do you know it was the Russian govt because US govt says so. 

 

Putin openly said when asked if his govt ordered the kill of Navalny,  he answered if my govt was ordered to kill Navalny we would of finished the job. 

 

And you trust Putin's word because he said so?

 

It wasn't just the US charging Russia was behind the assassination attempt.

[Kwasaki]

1 hour ago, stevenl said:

Right, like with Skripal.

No not that conspiracy theory either. 

[Phoenix Rising]

Man, Putin must miss his boy, trump!

[stevenl]

22 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

No not that conspiracy theory either. 

Life ain't easy if you're finding conspiracies everywhere.

[Kwasaki]

2 hours ago, stevenl said:

Life ain't easy if you're finding conspiracies everywhere.

Yeah your right and the chance of proving the truth when being condemned of something and others making a judgement because the country or person it's disliked is wrong in my book. 

 

Edited March 5, 2021 by Kwasaki

[Sujo]

2 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

Yeah your right and the chance of proving the truth when being condemned of something and others making a judgement because the country or person it's disliked is wrong in my book. 

 

Or you can just believe putin when he says it wasnt him. He has so much credibility.

 

Saying if it was him he would be dead means he has form for it, or how would he know that.

[Sujo]

On 3/4/2021 at 1:03 PM, Kwasaki said:

You have met him to make that judgement or do you just like to hear what want to hear. 

Juries dont usually meet the accused yet pass judgment.

 

Cant use the old, i didnt have sexual relations with that woman excuse.

[Kwasaki]

21 minutes ago, Sujo said:

Or you can just believe putin when he says it wasnt him. He has so much credibility.

 

Saying if it was him he would be dead means he has form for it, or how would he know that.

Putin said it wasn't him I believe him, you don't, so okay lets just leave it as that.

I heard a discussion about Navelny on LBC uk not being liked by many people but that is by the wayside lets just concentrate on nailing Putin.

 

[Sujo]

6 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

Putin said it wasn't him I believe him, you don't, so okay lets just leave it as that.

I heard a discussion about Navelny on LBC uk not being liked by many people but that is by the wayside lets just concentrate on nailing Putin.

 

That you just believe a despot says a lot about you. If im ever charged with a crime i hope you are on a jury, he says he didnt do it so cant be guilty.

 

putin is also not liked by many people. Your point is moot. So yes, concentrate on nailing putin, he would be good nailed.

[Credo]

It's pretty simple IMO.  Who wants him dead or out of commission?   Putin.

 

Who has access to radioactive material like Plutonium?   Putin.

[Kwasaki]

15 hours ago, Sujo said:

That you just believe a despot says a lot about you. If im ever charged with a crime i hope you are on a jury, he says he didnt do it so cant be guilty.

 

putin is also not liked by many people. Your point is moot. So yes, concentrate on nailing putin, he would be good nailed.

I don't understand people like you, it's my opinion because there's no proof only accusations and a pre-judgement about a person via the media. 

[Sujo]

2 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

I don't understand people like you, it's my opinion because there's no proof only accusations and a pre-judgement about a person via the media. 

Opinions based on reality are ok.

[Phoenix Rising]

3 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

I don't understand people like you, it's my opinion because there's no proof only accusations and a pre-judgement about a person via the media. 

The assumption of Putin's guilt passes the duck test with flying colors (pun completely accidental).

'nuff said.

Edited March 6, 2021 by Phoenix Rising

[Kwasaki]

39 minutes ago, Phoenix Rising said:

The assumption of Putin's guilt passes the duck test with flying colors (pun completely accidental).

'nuff said.

Well some people on TV remind me of a different saying " The blind men and the Elephant ".

[Phoenix Rising]

43 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

Well some people on TV remind me of a different saying " The blind men and the Elephant ".

Kudos, not many people are that honest about themselves.

[Sujo]

6 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

I don't understand people like you, it's my opinion because there's no proof only accusations and a pre-judgement about a person via the media. 

i understand. He wasnt really poisoned. Maybe santa claus was the only one to gain from it. Its not like he was against putin or anything.

 

Perfectly reasonable to think Poppavalium Andropof who lives down the road gained access to the poison as an exciting way to throw off the investigators into thinking it was putin.