Putin’s first public comment on Navalny’s death
After his election victory, Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first public comment about the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny claiming that he agreed to a prisoner swap.
Transcript
00:00 "As for Mr. Navalny, yes, he has passed away. It is always a sad event.
00:07 We had other cases when people in places of deprivation of freedom passed away.
00:14 Has this never happened in the United States? It has happened, and more than once.
00:19 A few days before Mr. Navalny's death, some colleagues told me, and not the administration staff,
00:28 that there was an idea to exchange Mr. Navalny for some people in places of deprivation of freedom in Western countries.
00:38 You can believe me, you can not. The person who spoke to me did not finish his sentence. I said, "I agree."
00:46 But, unfortunately, what happened happened, but on one condition – that we exchange him and that he does not return.