Biden speaks with widow and daughter of Alexei Navalny

(Patria) - US President Joe Biden met yesterday with the wife and daughter of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny to express his condolences, the White House announced.

During the meeting in San Francisco, Biden "expressed admiration for Navalny's extraordinary courage and his legacy of fighting corruption and for a free and democratic Russia where the rule of law applies equally to all," the White House statement said.

During his conversation with Yulia and Dasha, Biden emphasized that Alexei's legacy "will live on through the people across Russia and around the world who mourn his loss and who will continue to fight for freedom, democracy, and human rights."

The US President also confirmed that the US will announce a new major package of sanctions against Russia today, in response to Navalny's death, Russia's repression and aggression, and its war in Ukraine, the statement added.

The latest punitive measures will target a range of things, including the country's defense and industrial base, along with sources of revenue for the economy, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said earlier.

The Russian prison service announced that Navalny (47) fell unconscious and died suddenly on Friday after a walk in the penal colony "Polar Wolf" above the Arctic Circle.

Alexei's mother Lyudmila said yesterday that the authorities are trying to force her to bury her son secretly.

US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that Russian authorities should return Navalny's body to his mother so she can "properly honor the courage and bravery of her son."