The Biden administration sanctioned seven mid-level and senior Russian officials on Tuesday, along with more than a dozen government entities, over a nearly fatal nerve-agent attack on opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his subsequent jailing.
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The measures, emphasizing the use of the Russian nerve agent as a banned chemical weapon, marked the Biden administration's first sanctions against associates of President Vladimir Putin. Tuesday's step "was not meant to be a silver bullet or an end date to what has been a difficult relationship with Russia," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. "We expect the relationship to continue to be a challenge. We're prepared for that."
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Tuesday denounced the move as part of its "meddling in our internal affairs."
"We aren't going to tolerate that," Zakharova said in a statement, adding that "we will respond in kind. Attempts to put pressure on Russia with sanctions or other tools have failed in the past and will fail again," she said.
