Donald Trump’s dancing with his ‘buddy ‘ Russian President are over….

The Biden admin has been under pressure to revise the feeling that America would stand by while Putin continues doing his ‘thing’….

Those ‘things’ included massive hacks of Western military and commercial on-line networks, jailing a political opponent , and the ongoing construction of a oil pipeline to Germany…

The Biden administration on Tuesday announced punitive sanctions on senior Russian government figures over the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny and reiterated a demand that Navalny be released from detention.

The sanctions block access to financial or other assets in the United States for seven top figures around Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The sanctions are largely symbolic, but represent the first Biden administration action against Russia. U.S. officials who described the measures said they are a signal that the new administration will treat Russia differently than the Trump administration did.

The Biden administration also announced new export restrictions on items that could be used to manufacture chemical weapons and a widening of existing sanctions under a law controlling use of such weapons….

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Alexander Gabuev, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Moscow Center, said the administration’s coordinated response with Europe is more effective than its predecessor’s go-it-alone approach. But, he said, it is “very unlikely to change the fate of Mr. Navalny. It will impose costs on Russia, but the costs are totally bearable.”…

More….

image…CNN