On Thursday, US President Joe Biden met with the wife and daughter of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died last week. The meeting was reported by the White House , UNN reports.
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It is noted that Biden, during a meeting with Navalny's family in California, expressed admiration for Navalny's "extraordinary courage and his legacy of fighting corruption and for a free and democratic Russia where the rule of law applies equally to all." And he expressed hope that the values of democracy and freedom that Navalny professed will live on in the people who are now mourning him.
Biden also confirmed that the United States will announce major new sanctions against Russia on Friday in response to Navalny's death, Russia's repression and aggression, and its war against Ukraine.
"The President expressed his admiration for Alexei Navalny's extraordinary courage and legacy in the fight against corruption and for a free and democratic Russia where the rule of law applies equally to all. ... He confirmed that his administration will announce strong new sanctions against Russia tomorrow in response to Alexei's death, Russia's repression and aggression, and its brutal and illegal war in Ukraine.
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White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said earlier that the latest punitive measures would affect a number of items, including the country's defense and industrial bases, as well as sources of revenue for the economy.
Navalny, 47, collapsed and died suddenly on Friday after taking a walk in the Polar Wolf colony above the Arctic Circle, where he was serving three decades in prison, the colony's service said.
Recall
Navalny's death became known on February 16. The Federal Penitentiary Service of the Yamal-Nenets Administrative District reported that politician Alexei Navalny had died in penal colony No. 3 in the village of Kharp. The department stated that Navalny had become ill during a walk and almost immediately lost consciousness. Doctors were unable to save his life, trying to resuscitate him for more than half an hour.
The Russian politician's spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh reportedthat the medical report on the death of Alexei Navalny's mother, shown to her the day before, stated "natural causes".
On February 22, the mother of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Lyudmila , statedthat investigators showed her her son's body, but did not give it to her for burial. They demanded a secret funeral for the oppositionist, and threatened his mother in case of disobedience.