U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday (February 16) blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for Alexei Navalny's death and warned there could be consequences, saying he was "not surprised" but "outraged" by the opposition leader's passing, Reuters reports.
“You know, like millions of people around the world I'm literally both not surprised and outraged by the news, the reported death of Alexei Navalny. He bravely stood up, to the corruption, the violence and the, all the all the bad things that the Putin government was doing. In response Putin had him poisoned. He had him arrested. He had him prosecuted for fabricated crimes. He sent us into prison. He was held in isolation. Even all that didn't stop him from calling out lies. Even in prison he was a powerful voice of the truth, which is kind of amazing when you think about it. And he could have lived safely in exile after the assassination attempt on him in 2020, which nearly killed him, I might add.
And, but he, he was traveling outside the country at the time. Instead, he returned to Russia. He returned to Russia knowing he'd likely be imprisoned or even killed if he continued his work. But he did it anyway because he believed so deeply in his country, in Russia. Reports of his death, if they’re true, and I have no reason to believe they’re not, Russian authorities are going to tell their own story. But make no mistake. Make no mistake. Putin is responsible for Navalny's death. Putin is responsible.
We don't know exactly what happened, but there is no doubt that the death of Nalvany was a consequence of something that Putin and his thugs did," Biden said at the White House after Russian prison officials announced that Navalny had died.
He also said he was "contemplating" additional steps to punish Russia in the aftermath of Navalny's death, paying tribute to the opposition leader for "bravely" standing up to Putin's government's "corruption" and "violence."
Biden also told reporters that there was "no nuclear threat to the people of America or anywhere else in the world with what Russia is doing at the moment," even as Russia considered deploying anti-satellite technology in space. Russia has previously denied the claim.
