President Joe Biden expressed shock and anger about The death of Alexei Navalny he blames Friday President of Russia VVladimir Putin for the death of the opposition leader He said that what happened in the Siberian prison shows the importance of finance for Ukraine.
“Make no mistake, Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death,” Biden said in a fiery speech at the White House.
He said the United States did not know exactly what happened to Navalny, but there was “no doubt that his death was the result of what Putin and his thugs did.”
“This tragedy reminds us of the risks at this moment. Let’s provide funding so Ukraine can continue to defend itself against Putin’s relentless aggression and war crimes,” he added, referring to billions in aid to help Ukraine fight the Russian invasion that has been in Congress for months.
Throughout the day, global leaders and senior officials rushed to condemn the Kremlin after the death of Russia’s most prominent opposition figure.
“His death in a Russian prison, attachment to a single man and fear only highlights the weakness and decay at the heart of the system built by Putin.” Secretary of State Anthony Blinken He told reporters at a conference in Munich.
While Navalny’s own team has not confirmed his death, other leaders have been quick to blame it on the Russian government and even Putin himself.
Vice President Kamala Harris called the news of Navalny’s death “terrible” and “another sign of Putin’s cruelty.”
Latvian President Edgars Rinkevičs did not speak either. “He was just brutally murdered by the Kremlin,” he said X said.
It was Navalny poisoned with nerve agent It’s 2020 — an assassination attempt he directly blames on Putin — and the Russian leader has spent his last years behind bars as he focuses on his war in Ukraine.
For now, Navalny’s spokesman said this On X they said that they do not have any confirmation or information about his death.
Russia’s Federal Prison Service said in a statement that Navalny felt ill “almost immediately passed out” after the walk on Friday.
Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta quoted his mother, Lyudmila Navalny, as saying that her son was “alive, healthy and happy” when she last saw him on Monday.
Many leaders have expressed “concern” about the wider implications of Navalny’s death, his comments about a rising Putin, and worsening conditions for Russia’s already stifled opposition as the Kremlin tightens its grip on his critics with increasingly tough laws and crackdowns on people’s freedoms. output.
The President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said: “Putin is afraid of nothing but the disagreement of his people.”
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed “anger and rage” and said: “In today’s Russia, free spirits are sent to the Gulags and sentenced to death.”
“My thoughts go out to his family, relatives and the Russian people,” he added.
The President of the Council of Europe, Charles Michel, added his condolences to “those fighting for democracy in the darkest conditions in the world”.
“Warriors die. But the fight for #freedom never ends,” said Michelle.
Also on X, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak described Navalny’s death as “Terrible news. As the fiercest defender of Russian democracy, Alexei Navalny showed incredible courage throughout his life.”
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said: “Like no other, Alexey #Navalny was a symbol of a free and democratic Russia. That’s why he had to die.”
Even as expressions of condolences and shock poured in, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg laid out the task facing the international community, which will have to deal with an increasingly brazen and authoritarian Russia: “We need to get all the facts out, and Russia needs that. to answer all serious questions about the circumstances of his death”.