SAN FRANCISCO, California – President Joe Biden met with the wife and daughter of the late Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny in San Francisco, California. The meeting took place as the president prepares to impose additional sanctions against Russia. During the meeting, Biden expressed admiration for Navalny’s courage and legacy of fighting against corruption and for a free and democratic Russia. He announced that sanctions against Putin, who is held responsible for Navalny’s death, will be announced the following day.
Biden emphasized that Navalny’s legacy will continue through people across Russia and around the world mourning his loss and fighting for freedom, democracy, and human rights. The meeting came a day ahead of the expected new round of US sanctions on Russia, in part for Navalny’s death. The Biden administration will impose new sanctions on more than 500 targets on the eve of Russia’s two-year war in Ukraine.
Navalny, Russia’s highest-profile opposition leader, spent years criticizing Putin at great personal risk. He was poisoned with Novichok, a Soviet-era nerve agent, in 2020 and spent months recovering in Germany before returning to Russia in 2021. Upon his return, he was arrested and was serving a 19-year prison sentence at the time of his death.
The Russian prison service reported that Navalny “felt unwell after a walk” in his Siberian penal colony and “almost immediately” lost consciousness. His death sparked international outrage at Putin and raised concerns about the treatment of political opposition in Russia. Biden has sharply criticized the response to Navalny’s death from his likely 2024 rival, former President Donald Trump, who compared his own legal troubles to what Navalny faced.
In addition to the meeting with Navalny’s family, Biden also affirmed that his administration will announce major new sanctions against Russia in response to Navalny’s death, Russia’s repression, aggression, and its war in Ukraine. The meeting is seen as a symbolic gesture of support for Navalny’s family and the opposition movement in Russia.