The Kremlin has denied any state involvement. Last month, Putin called Navalny’s death “sad” and said he was ready to hand over the imprisoned politician to the West in exchange for prisoners if Navalny never returned to Russia.
Navalny’s allies claim that such talks have taken place. “The Wall Street Journal”, citing anonymous sources, reported that the US intelligence services concluded that Putin may not have given the order to kill Navalny in February.
At the same time, Washington has not released the Russian leader from general responsibility for Navalny’s death. The opposition politician has been a target of Russian authorities for years, jailed on charges the West sees as politically motivated. In addition, in 2020, Navalny was poisoned with a nerve agent.
The Kremlin denies that the country was involved in the 2020 poisoning.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday that he had read the Wall Street magazine report, which he said was “empty speculation.”
The US intelligence assessment was based on a range of information. Including some classified intelligence and analysis of public facts, it considers the timing of Navalny’s death and how it overshadowed Putin’s re-election in March. The newspaper refers to some of its sources.
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The newspaper also quoted Navalny’s high-ranking adviser, Leonidas Volkov, who called the US conclusions naive and ridiculous.
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Tags: intelligence Putin order kill Navalny
