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Moscow is also accusing the German government of refusing to provide Moscow with the results of Navalny’s toxicological analysis, suggesting this suggest foul play.
2.8 ​ ​What sort of new sanctions does Russia face due to the Navalny poisoning?
Joe Biden’s possible election to the White House has, for months, been the main sanctions risk for Russia. But now there are at least two more: the protests in Belarus, where Moscow is President Alexander Lukashenko’s only ally, and the poisoning of Alexei Navalny.
This is our handy guide to all the different sanctions Russia could face this fall.
It is least likely sanctions will be imposed for backing Lukashenko: restrictions in such a case would only be possible in response to a Russian military intervention, according to experts. Thus far, Russia has carefully avoided anything of the sort.
Despite talk about hackers and trolls, Russian interference in the current U.S. elections appears not to be comparable to 2016. Experts said that, as Russia is not a major issue in the current campaign there is — so far — no reason to expect sanctions.
The main threat for Russia remains a Biden presidency. Biden would likely take a tougher stance on Russia and, by 2021, whoever sits in the Oval Office will have a new mechanism for imposing sanctions: the National Defense Administration Act 2021, expected to be passed by Congress in the coming months. This includes the DETER Act, tabled by senators Marco Rubio and Chris van Hollen, which has been waiting in the wings since 2018. If passed, it would sanction state-owned Russian banks and new energy projects, as well as a banning foreigners from purchasing Russian state debt.
However, the most likely round of sanctions will be as a result of the Navalny affair. In the West, it’s widely accepted Navalny was poisoned with Soviet toxin Novichok — and that the Russian secret services were involved. Legally, it’s relatively straightforward to impose sanctions for the use of a banned chemical weapon.
The U.S. would most likely impose sanctions under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (CBW Act). It was this that was used by Washington to impose sanctions on Russia in 2019 following the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal in Britain. Earlier this month, members of the bipartisan Congress Committee for International Affairs urged the Trump administration to use the CBW Act against Russia in response to the Navalny poisoning.
The CBW Act gives the president six possible responses. In 2019, Trump selected three relatively lenient punishments: U.S. banks were banned from
22 ​RUSSIA Country Report​ October 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com