Ahead of Joe Biden meeting, Vladimir Putin says Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny will be treated like any other prisoner

Russian president did not answer a question about whether he could promise the opposition leader would leave prison alive
Putin will meet US President Biden in Geneva this week, and denied waging a cyberwar on the United States

Russia

Reuters

Published: 1:51am, 15 Jun 2021

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Ahead of his first meeting with Joe Biden as US president in Geneva this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin has told US television network NBC that jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny would be treated in prison like any other inmate.

“He will not be treated any worse than anybody else,” Putin was quoted as saying, but gave no direct answer to a question about whether he could promise that Navalny would leave prison alive.

Navalny is expected to be a matter of dispute at the Putin-Biden summit.

Putin avoided referring to the opposition leader by name in the interview. “I proceed from the premise that the person that you have mentioned, the same kind of measures will apply to that person, not in any way worse than those applied to anybody else who happens to be in prison,” Putin said.

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Putin will meet Biden at a time of the worst tensions in the relationship between Russia and the United States since the Cold War era.

“President Biden is fundamentally different from [former US president Donald] Trump, because he is a career man, he has spent almost his entire adulthood in politics,” Putin said.

“My great hope is that … there wouldn’t be any impulsive moves from the [current] president, that we will stick to certain rules of communication, we will be able to agree on something,” Putin added.

Biden, who called Putin “a killer” in March, said on Sunday some of Russia’s activities contradict international norms. Washington said Russian authorities or Russian hacking groups were behind recent cyberattacks on companies working in the United States.

Asked if Russia was waging a cyberwar against the United States, Putin replied: “Where is the proof? I can give an answer to such unproven accusations: You can complain to the International League of Sexual Reforms. Are you OK with that?”

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When asked about plans for a successor, Putin said he is ready to support someone who is faithful to the country even if he is critical of the president.

“If I see an individual, even if he is critical of some of my activities, but I see that the individual … is faithful to the country …, whatever his attitude towards me is, I would do everything to support such people,” the Kremlin website quoted Putin as saying.

Putin has dominated Russian politics since 2000. In April he signed a law that could keep him in office in the Kremlin until 2036, when he would be 83, allowing him to run for two more six-year terms once his current stint ends in 2024.