Washington, DC [US], February 17 : US President Joe Biden said that he is "outraged" by the reported death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. He blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for Navalny's death.
In his remarks on Navalny's death, Biden said, "Reports of his death if they're true and I have no reasons to believe that they're not - Russian authorities are going to tell their own story but make no mistake Putin is responsible for Navalny's death. Putin is responsible. What has happened to Navalny is yet more proof of Putin's brutality no one should be fooled not in Russia not at home not anywhere in the world.
Outspoken Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny, Putin's most formidable domestic opponent, fell unconscious and died on Friday according to state media reports.
"Putin does not only target citizens of other countries as we've seen what's going on
in Ukraine right now he also inflicts terrible crimes on his people and as people across Russia and around the world are mourning Navalny today because he was so many things that Putin was not," he added.
He said Navalny "bravely stood up to the corruption the violence and all the bad things that the Putin government was doing."
Biden stated that Navalny could have lived safely in exile. However, he returned to Russia knowing that he would likely be imprisoned or even killed if he continued to work. Putin lauded Navalny for being the powerful voice for the truth even in prison.
Biden said that like millions of people around the world, "I'm literally both not surprised and outraged by the reported death of Alexei Navalny. He bravely stood up to the corruption the violence and 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 sentenced him to prison he was held in isolation. Even all that didn't stop him from calling out Putin's lies."
The US President said that Navalny was a powerful voice for the truth even in prison and did not fear returning to Russia.
"Even in prison, he was a powerful voice for 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 was traveling outside the country at the time. Instead, 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," he added.
Calling him "brave, principled and dedicated to building a Russia where the rule of law existed and where it applied to everybody," Biden said Navalny believed in Russia, a cause worth fighting for. In his remarks, he offered condolences to Navalny's family.
Biden called for providing funding for Ukraine so that it can defend itself "against Putin's vicious onslaughts and war crimes." He stressed the need to reject the statements made by former US President Donald Trump that he said invited Russia to invade NATO allies if they were not paying.
He said, "Now as I've said before and I mean this in a literal sense history is watching the House of Representatives the failure to support Ukraine at this critical moment will never be forgotten it's going to go down on the pages of history."
"It is, it's consequential and the clock is ticking and this has to happen. We have to help now you know we have to realize what we're dealing with with Putin all of us should reject the dangerous statements made by the previous president that invited Russia to invade our NATO allies if they weren't paying," Biden added.
Asked whether Navalny was assassinated, Biden said, "We don't know exactly what happened, but there's no doubt that the death of Navalny was the consequence of something that Putin and his thugs did."
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has died in prison, Al Jazeera reported on Friday, citing state media. The death of the jailed Russian opposition leader, 47, has been reported by state media which further cited the prison service of the Yamalo-Nenets region where he had been serving his sentence.
Al Jazeera cited a statement put out by state media quoting the prison service of the Yamalo-Nenets region which said that Navalny "felt bad" after a walk and lost consciousness "almost immediately."
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