President Joe Biden’s fresh round of sanctions against Russia in retaliation for Alexei Navalny’s death appear to be more symbolic than consequential.
The Treasury Department announced more than 500 new sanctions largely against Russia’s financial and military sectors on Friday. The round of sanctions are the most at one time since Russia invaded Ukraine two years ago.
Navalny, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s chief critic in Russia, was arrested and imprisoned in a Siberian penile colony in 2021. The prison announced last week that Navalny had died. The announcement drew condemnation from Western leaders and deep suspicions that Navalny’s death was ordered by Putin.
Biden said in 2021 that he warned Putin in the eventuality of Navalny’s death that the repercussions would be “devastating for Russia.” The new round of sanctions is unlikely to have any significant impact, however, according to experts and officials who spoke to The Wall Street Journal.
“On the one hand, this next turn of the crank is inevitable because the U.S. needs to take concrete steps to respond to Navalny’s death,” Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow Charles Kupchan told WSJ. “On the other hand, it’s quite clear at this stage that the sanctions package against Russia has fallen far short of expectations.”
This round of sanctions is likely to be “more symbolic than it is impactful,” Kupchan said.
The initial tranche of sanctions issued after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine saw the Russian economy constrict. Shortly after, Russia’s economy regained its footing, however. Russian businesses and industry after a momentary shock as the sanctions set in found new supply chains and buyers, especially through China, as well as loopholes that allowed their products to get into Western markets.
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The latest round of sanctions will impact some of those loopholes, though the overall impact to Russia will be minimal, according to WSJ.
The Biden administration championed the sanctions and said that the economic pressure on Russia is having an impact.
“Russia’s economy and military-industrial base are showing clear signs of weakness in part due to the actions we, along with our partners and allies around the world, have taken to support Ukraine’s brave defense,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement, according to The New York Times. “Putin has mortgaged the present and future of the Russian people for his own aims to subjugate Ukraine.”
The fresh round of sanctions comes amid a new push from Russia against Ukraine, which is running low on arms as the U.S. debates another round of aid. Aid to Ukraine has become increasingly controversial in the U.S. as questions have arisen over how aid is spent and where the war will end.