Alexei Navalny’s Cause: Can the Biden Administration marshal a unified Western response to the Russian opposition leader’s prison sentence?
https://www.wsj.com/articles/alexei-navalnys-cause-11612309007?mod=opinion_lead_pos3
We would have liked to have been in the room when Vladimir Putin confronted whoever came up with the idea to poison Alexei Navalny last year. The opposition politician nearly died, but the assassination attempt by Russian spooks has made him an even more prominent threat to the Russian dictator’s rule.
The Kremlin had Mr. Navalny arrested upon his return to Russia in January after several months of treatment in Germany, and on Tuesday a Russian court sentenced him to three-and-a-half years in prison (reduced by one year for time served). The charges of violating his parole from a previous conviction are a farce. This is a political arrest and sentence.
One lesson is that Mr. Putin and his gang must feel threatened. Protests in support of Mr. Navalny have been growing in major Russian cities. Mr. Putin has survived protests before, notably in 2012, but his popularity has sagged amid an economy weakened by lower oil prices and Western sanctions.
“[Putin’s] only method is killing people,” Mr. Navalny said in court. “For as much as he pretends to be a great geopolitician, he’ll go down in history as a poisoner.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a strong statement urging the Kremlin to “immediately and unconditionally release” Mr. Navalny and others arrested during the recent protests. But Mr. Putin will only be impressed if the Biden Administration can marshal a unified Western response that includes tougher sanctions, including against Kremlin cronies.
NATO should also be on guard for an external provocation in case Mr. Putin wants to divert Russian attention from his domestic woes. He’s done it before, as President Biden well knows. He was Vice President at the time.
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