Biden announces more than 500 sanctions against Russia over Navalny's death and its 2-year war in Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issues an appeal for more aid while blasting Tucker Carlson’s "bulls***'" interview with Vladimir Putin.
President Biden on Friday announced more than 500 new sanctions against Russia over the death of jailed dissident Alexei Navalny and Vladimir Putin’s ongoing war in Ukraine.
“Two years ago tomorrow, shortly before dawn, Russian missiles began exploding near the capital city of Kyiv. Russian troops marched across the border into Ukraine. Vladimir Putin’s vicious onslaught against Ukraine had begun,” Biden said in a statement. “He believed that he could easily bend the will and break the resolve of a free people. That he could roll into a sovereign nation, and the world would roll over.
“Two years later, we see even more vividly what we’ve known since day one,” the president added. “Putin miscalculated badly.”
?? A response to Navalny’s death
The statement comes a week after the death of Navalny, a 47-year-old outspoken Putin critic who Kremlin officials say was found dead last week in the remote arctic prison where he was serving a 30-plus-year sentence.
In San Francisco Thursday, Biden met with Navalny’s daughter, Dasha, and widow, Yulia Navalnaya, who is vowing to take up her late husband’s fight against Russian corruption.
???? What will the sanctions do?
According to Biden, the sanctions will “target individuals connected to Navalny’s imprisonment as well as Russia’s financial sector, defense industrial base, procurement networks and sanctions evaders across multiple continents.”
They will also “ensure Putin pays an even steeper price for his aggression abroad and repression at home,” Biden said.
The president also said the United States is imposing new export restrictions on nearly 100 entities for “providing backdoor support for Russia’s war machine.
“We are taking action to further reduce Russia’s energy revenues,” Biden said. “I’ve directed my team to strengthen support for civil society, independent media, and those who fight for democracy around the world.
?? Biden urges Congress to approve Ukraine aid
In his statement, Biden urged the Republican-led House of Representatives to pass the bipartisan national security supplemental bill, recently approved by the Senate, to provide Ukraine with more funding to fend off Russia.
“Congress knows that by supporting this bill, we can strengthen security in Europe, strengthen our security at home, and stand up to Putin,” Biden said. “Opposing this bill only plays into his hands.
“History is watching,” he added. “The failure to support Ukraine at this critical moment will not be forgotten.”
???? Schumer visits Ukraine
On Friday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer arrived in Ukraine, where he is scheduled to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Schumer is the highest-ranking congressional leader to travel to the war-torn nation since then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip nearly two years ago.
Schumer said the goal of his visit is to assure Ukrainians that “America has not given up on them” and to put pressure on House Speaker Mike Johnson to take up the foreign aid package passed by the Senate.
“This is truly a turning point in our history,” Schumer said in an interview ahead of trip. “We want to show the Ukrainian people we feel that urgency.”
?? Zelensky blasts Tucker Carlson’s 'bulls***' interview with Putin
The Ukrainian president also appealed to Congress to approve foreign aid while issuing a dire warning.
“Will Ukrainians survive without Congress support?” Zelensky told Bret Baier in an interview that aired on Fox News Thursday. “Will we survive? Of course, but not all of us. And if we understand this surprise, if the world is ready for this, OK, you will see it. But it’s tragedy. It will be tragedy for all of us, not only for Ukraine, not only for Ukrainians, for all Europe.”
Zelensky was also asked what he thought about former Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s recent controversial sit-down with Putin in Moscow. The Ukrainian leader said he heard about Carlson’s interview but didn’t watch it.
“I don’t have time to hear more than two hours of bullshit about us,” Zelensky said.
