The Biden administration announced a series of sanctions against Russia on Tuesday in response to the country's poisoning and jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Washington Post reports.
The sanctions were placed on seven top figures who hold close relationships with Russian President Vladimir Putin, blocking them from retrieving financial and other assets. The names of these officials are expected to be published on Tuesday.
Other sanctions include export restrictions, particularly of material which can be used to make chemical weapons.
The sanctions follow similar action taken by the European Union last year against Russia after the poisoning of Navalny. The EU imposed even more sanctions against Russia in February.
"So to be clear, the United States is neither seeking to reset our relations with Russia, nor are we seeking to escalate," said one US government official.
The policy deviates from that of Biden's former boss, President Barack Obama, who sought to "reset" relations with Russia upon his ascension to office in 2008. Such efforts were considered a failure after Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014, which is still occupied by the country today.
The US government said that they believe with "high confidence" that the opposition leader was poisoned by Russian agents.
Navalny has since returned to Russia to face charges leveled against him by the government. He was sentenced to two and a half years in a penal colony in western Russia.
His arrest immediately sparked protests across the Russian federation, with many believing his sentencing to be politically motivated.
"Russian officials have targeted Mr. Navalny for his activism and efforts to reveal uncomfortable truths about Russian officials' corruption and to give voice to Russian citizens legitimate grievances with their government and its policies," said an official of the Biden administration.
The sanctions are expected to be followed up by additional measures in response to Russian government actions such as the SolarWinds hacking of government and private sector organizations by Russia and the bounties placed on US troops in Afghanistan by the country.
The Russian government has not yet responded to the latest round of sanctions.
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