The White House will announce a major sanctions package against Russia on Friday, US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on Tuesday.
The sanctions will hold Russian President Vladimir Putin accountable for Russia's war in Ukraine — which hits the 2-year mark on Saturday — and for the death of opposition figure Alexey Navalny, he said.
Kirby also repeated calls for Congress to pass the administration’s national security supplemental, directly tying the aid for Ukraine to the legislation, which remains stalled in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
“One of the most powerful things that we can do right now to stand up in Vladimir Putin, of course, is to again, pass the bipartisan national security supplemental bill and support Ukraine as they continue to fight bravely and defense their country,” he said.
President Joe Biden previewed the upcoming announcement at the White House on Tuesday, telling reporters they’d hear more from him on the subject Friday.
"I told you we’d be announcing sanctions on Russia — we’ll have a major package announced on Friday,” Biden told reporters gathered on the South Lawn before departing the White House for a three-day fundraising swing in California.
Meanwhile, Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on a call Tuesday that the new sanctions against Russia will impact a "significant range of targets that we have worked persistently and diligently to identify, to continue to impose costs for what Russia has done — for what it's done to Navalny, for what it's done to Ukraine, and for the threat that it represents to international peace and security."