Russia's President Vladimir Putin may be facing devastating consequences, following the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in a Russian prison near the Arctic Circle.
U.S. President Joe Biden warned the Russian leader in June 2021 that he would face consequences if Navalny died in prison. While Biden did not specify at the time what the consequences would occur, he said he warned Putin during their meeting in Geneva on June 16 of that year.
"I made it clear to him that I believe the consequences of that would be devastating for Russia," Biden said.
He added: "What do you think happens when he's saying it's not about hurting Navalny, all the stuff he says to rationalize the treatment of Navalny, and then he dies in prison?... It's about trust. It's about their ability to influence other nations in a positive way."
Newsweek reached out Friday to the White House for comment on Navalny's death and Biden's 2021 warning.
Biden's comments came before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022. Since the invasion, the U.S. and its allies have imposed harsh sanctions on Russia.
The 47-year-old Navalny was one of Putin's most-prominent critics and was being held in a prison about 40 miles north of the Arctic Circle
Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service said on Friday that Navalny, who has been in jail under major fraud and contempt of court charges since February 2021, felt unwell after a walk, "lost consciousness almost immediately," and died shortly afterwards.
"All necessary resuscitation measures were carried out but did not yield positive results," the statement read. "The paramedics confirmed the death of the convict."
The cause of death has not yet been established. Navalny had been treated in hospital following complaints of malnourishment and other problems arising from alleged mistreatment in prison.
The U.S. State Department has previously said they believed Navalny had been poisoned by Russian security services in 2020. He became ill during a flight to Moscow and fell into a coma in a suspected case of Novichok poisoning carried out by Russia's FSB.
Navalny was transferred to Berlin for treatment, but upon his return to Russia in January 2021, he was arrested and charged with a parole violation, earning him his first prison sentence. Navalny subsequently received several more prison terms totaling more than 30 years.
He had been incarcerated in a prison in Russia's Vladimir region, serving a sentence on charges of extremism and fraud. These charges he said were political retribution for his role in leading political opposition to the Russian government in the 2010s.
Navalny disappeared from that prison in early December last year. At the time of his death, he was being held under a "special regime" in a prison near the Arctic Circle, serving a 19-year sentence.
Update 02/16/24, 08.22a.m. E.T.: This article was updated to include more information.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Darragh Roche is a U.S. News Reporter based in Limerick, Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. politics. He has ... Read more
