President Joe Biden is currently weighing his options for the U.S. response to the suspicious death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Biden told reporters on Monday that he is “considering additional sanctions” against Russia and Russian President Vladimir Putin following Navalny’s death on Friday at a prison camp above the Arctic Circle.
In 2021, Biden said that “the consequences of [Navalny’s death while in prison] would be devastating for Russia,” adding at the time that it would be very difficult to trust the narrative from the Kremlin in the event of Navalny’s demise.
“What do you think happens when he’s saying it’s not about hurting Navalny, all the stuff he says to rationalize the treatment of Navalny, and then he dies in prison?” Biden said in 2021. “It’s about trust. It’s about their ability to influence other nations in a positive way.”
On Friday afternoon, the Biden administration swiftly blamed the Kremlin for the death of Putin’s most outspoken critic. On Friday, Biden highlighted his promise from three years ago, emphasizing that Russia has already faced crippling sanctions for the invasion of Ukraine.
Biden had also said in 2021 that “no President of the United States could keep faith with the American people if they did not speak out to defend our democratic values, to stand up for the universal and fundamental freedoms that all men and women have in our view.”
Former President Donald Trump had been largely criticized for his silence on Navalny’s death, especially by his Republican primary rival and former U.N. ambassador, Nikki Haley.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
On Monday, Trump broke the silence, comparing his legal troubles to the persecution of Navalny.
“The sudden death of Alexei Navalny has made me more and more aware of what is happening in our Country,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “It is a slow, steady progression, with CROOKED, Radical Left Politicians, Prosecutors, and Judges leading us down a path to destruction.”
