The president of United States, Joe Bidenheld his Russian counterpart directly responsible this Friday, Vladimir Putinof the death of the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalni and warned that he is evaluating “different options” to respond to that event.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, he said he had not felt “surprised” but if “indignant“after the Russian prison services made public this Friday the sudden death of Navalny in the Arctic prison where he was serving a sentence for his criticism of Putin.
“If the information about Navalny’s death is true, and I have no reason to doubt it, of course the Russian authorities are going to tell their own story. But make no mistake, Putin is responsible,” said the American head of state.
Biden described Navalny as “a powerful voice in defense of the truth” and noted that his death is “one more test” of the “brutality” from Putin.
The president was asked directly if he thought that the death of the Russian opponent was a “murder”, to which he responded: “We don’t know exactly what happened, but there is no doubt that Navalni’s death is a consequence of something that Putin and his bullies.”
Furthermore, he said that he was studying “different options” to punish the Kremlin for Navalny’s death, but did not detail whether Washington will impose more sanctions on the Russian economy.
Biden has already moved forward in 2021 after meeting with Putin in Geneva that would have “devastating consequences” for Russia if Navalny died in prison.
The Russian penitentiary services reported that Navalni, 47, died after feeling unwell after taking a walk in the prison where he was being held and, although the medical services tried to revive him “for more than half an hour”, he ended up losing his life.
In 2020, Navalni had survived a poisoning attempt with the chemical agent Novichok and his health had been a cause of growing concern after he went on a hunger strike between March and April 2021, weeks in which he lost a lot of weight.
US Vice President Kamala Harris was the first US voice to condemn his death during a speech at the Munich Security Conference, stating that his loss is another indication of the “brutality“of Putin and maintained that Russia is “responsible“.
The Biden Government had demanded Kremlin the release of Navalni since he was arrested after his return to Russia in early 2021.
Most of the international community has condemned the death and numerous Western leaders have held the Kremlin directly responsible for it, to which the Russian government has reacted by considering these types of statements “inadmissible”.
