WASHINGTON, Feb  19, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - US President Joe Biden is
"considering additional sanctions" on Moscow after the death of Russian
opposition leader Alexei Navalny in an Arctic prison, he said Monday.

       "We already have sanctions, but we are considering additional sanctions,
yes," Biden, who has already directly blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin
and his "thugs" for Navalny's death last week, told journalists in Washington.

       Biden and other Western allies have already used unprecedented sanctions as
a way of throttling support for Moscow's war in Ukraine, though so far they
have failed to halt the assault.

       But doubts have been growing recently over Washington's future commitment
to Ukraine. With existing US funding already dried up, former president Donald
Trump's allies in the House of Representatives have been stalling $60 billion
in new military aid.

       Trump, the likely Republican nominee in the November presidential election,
opposes helping Kyiv and recently used his sway to kill a US border reform bill
that would have also authorized additional aid to Ukraine.

       Biden slammed Republicans again Monday over the failure to pass the aid
package.

       "The way they're walking away from the threat of Russia, the way they're
walking away from NATO, the way they're walking away from meeting our
obligations, it's just shocking," he said.

       But he said he would be happy to meet with Mike Johnson, Speaker of the
Republican-led House of Representatives, who has told reporters he has no
intention of even allowing a vote on the package.

       "Sure, I'd be happy to meet with him, if he has anything to say," Biden
said.

       He added that he hoped that Navalny's death would make a difference when it
came to passing the aid, but "I'm not sure."