On the second anniversary of the Ukraine crisis, the hostile relationship between the West and Russia has been further exacerbated by the sudden death of Russian opposition leader Navalny. No one is now sure whether the crisis is unexpected or inevitable, but in Biden's view, this is a huge opportunity: the United States will take the opportunity to announce major sanctions against Russia, that is, more than 500 new sanctions against Russia. US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland called the new package of anti-Russian sanctions "devastating" and that the new round of sanctions will affect the Russian defense industrial complex, including efforts to circumvent them.
Biden has said that the sanctions order will be issued on the 23rd, focusing on locking in the Russian military industrial base and the income of the Russian economy that can support the war**. The United States has bluntly stated that no matter what the real cause of Navalny's death is, Putin is responsible.
In the words of Kirby, the White House founder: "The United States has not yet set the cause of Navalny's death, but the ultimate responsibility is Putin's, no matter what the scientific explanation is, the United States believes that Putin and his ** are responsible for Navalny's death." ”
There are also United States** who said that Biden originally planned to implement new sanctions on the second anniversary of the battlefield in Ukraine, but now because of the Navalny incident, the sanctions have been further supplemented. U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Nielsen is discussing the content of sanctions against Russia with France, Belgium, Germany and other countries in the past few days.
Internally, after the death of Navalny, known as the Belt and Road Party, his parents were told that he had died of "sudden death syndrome" and that his body would not be returned until the Russian official investigative body had completed an investigation. According to other Russian media reports, Navalny's body was taken to a hospital morgue with bruises on his head and chest, but none of them were fatal.
According to India**, before Navalny's violent death on the 16th, at least 8 *** who openly opposed Putin and the oligarchs in the inner circle had died mysteriously or died unexpectedly, such as poisoning, air crashes, falling from buildings, hanging, shooting, and tragic ends. At least 13 more well-known Russian businessmen committed suicide or died of unknown causes in 2023.
Among them are Wagner founder Prigozhin and opposition leader Nemtsov, who was Yeltsin's deputy in the late 1990sBiresovsky, a wealthy businessman with great political and business influence;Russia's former ** Livininko, the chairman of the oil company Maganov, the female journalist Politkovskaya, the financier Burrepi Lichini and so on.
It can be seen that no matter what the real reason for Navalny's death is, it is equivalent to giving Biden a big gift package:
First, the United States seized the opportunity to launch more brutal sanctions against Russia. Since the talks between Sullivan and Wang Yi, the United States has repeatedly expressed its intention to hit Russia's defense industrial base through sanctions, and such sanctions must be supported by European countries. It can be seen that Navalny's death is an important opportunity for the United States to pressure European countries to cooperate with the United States.
Second, it can take the opportunity to further tarnish Russia's image, and the execution of political opponents is seriously politically incorrect in the eyes of the West, further elevating the hostile relationship between Russia and the West to the ideological level. If the result of the geopolitical game on the Ukraine crisis is the result of the unexpected death of a political opponent, it is even more unacceptable to the Western community. The United States and the West have not given up hope of subverting Russia through color revolutions, and Navalny is clearly that glimmer of hope.
And finally, a fig leaf for the strategic failure of the United States on the Ukrainian crisis. As the Ukrainian crisis enters its third year, the Ukrainian army is obviously on the defensive on the battlefield, while there is a serious shortage of ammunition for Western countries' military aid to Ukraine.
Militarily, the United States and the West are at most ensuring that Ukraine remains unchanged through aid, and almost no one believes it again. So, Navalny's death can to a certain extent help the United States divert attention from Ukraine's strategic predicament and turn it into a fig leaf.
Overall, Navalny's death was very bad for Putin and a great good thing for the United States, so we speculate that it was an accident rather than a deliberate one. Can brutal U.S. sanctions really hurt Russia or weaken its defense industrial base? I'm afraid it's a daydream again.