White House announces Russia sanctions over Navalny poisoning
White House press secretary Jen Psaki discussed at the White House press briefing U.S. sanctions reported Tuesday morning of seven "senior" Russian officials and adding one government research institute and 13 businesses to export restrictions. The sanctions are over the Russian government's poisoning and detention of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
"As a demonstration of our Transatlantic unity and cooperation with partners over the ocean, many of the actions we are taking mirror the steps the EU took in October and match additional EU measures being taken today," Psaki said. "We also reiterate our call for the Russian government to immediately and unconditionally release Mr. Navalny."
Psaki said the sanctions are not a "silver bullet" that will repair or end the "challenging relationship" with Russia. She also did not rule out further actions after additional review of the Russian government's "concerning behavior."
"There is an ongoing review...we reserve the right to take any additional actions at the conclusion of that review, and just reiterating that the tone and the tenor and the type of relationship that this president intends to have with President Putin will be quite different from the last administration," Psaki said.