The White House is preparing "major sanctions" on Russia in response to opposition leader Alexei Navalny's death in an Arctic penal colony.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the new package will be announced Friday.
The Associated Press reported Kirby declined to detail the new actions, citing U.S. government policy, or share how they would expand on the already stiff sanctions on Russia in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine.
Kirby said only that the sanctions, which will coincide with the two-year anniversary of Russia's invasion, will be "specifically supplemented with additional sanctions regarding Mr. Navalny's death."
Kirby said the U.S. had not determined how Navalny had died but insisted that the ultimate responsibility lies with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"Regardless of the scientific answer, Putin's responsible for it," he told reporters.
What led to this point?
Navalny has long been a point of contention between the U.S. and Russia. President Joe Biden previously told reporters in 2021 that he warned Putin that the consequences would be "devastating for Russia," if Navalny died in prison.
Before Russian prison authorities announced the reported demise of vocal Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in a secluded penal colony, the opposition leader and consistent thorn in President Vladimir Putin's side was seen in a courtroom looking happy and healthy, according to CBS News.
Navalny, who survived at least two suspected poisonings in his role as an anti-corruption activist and political opposition leader, passed away in the remote IK-3 penal colony.
The Office of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District reported that he went for a walk, suddenly "felt unwell," and then collapsed "almost immediately."
"Medical workers from the institution arrived immediately and an emergency medical team was called. All necessary resuscitation measures were carried out, but did not yield positive results," the prison authority said in a statement obtained by CBS.
"Emergency doctors confirmed the death of the convict."
Biden, however, directly blamed Russia for Navalny's death and said, "We're contemplating what else can be done," adding, "We're looking at a whole number of options."
