LOS ANGELES – President Biden met with the wife and daughter of late Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny in California on Thursday to express his “heartfelt condolences” over his death, the White House said.
During the meeting, the President expressed his admiration for Aleksey Navalny’s extraordinary courage and his legacy of fighting against corruption and for a free and democratic Russia in which the rule of law applies equally to everyone, the White House said.
The White House posted photos of the meeting on social media, showing the president embracing Yulia Navalnaya, Navalny’s widow. Yulia Navalnaya, who lives in exile from Russia, posted on Instagram earlier in the day that she was visiting her daughter, a student at Stanford University.
Speaking to reporters in Los Angeles, Mr. Biden said, “This morning I had the honor of meeting with Alexey Navalny’s wife and daughter. As to state the obvious, he was a man of incredible courage. And it’s amazing how his wife and daughter are emulating that.”
The president also said his administration would “be announcing sanctions against Putin, who is responsible for [Navalny’s] death, tomorrow.”
Navalny was Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent domestic opponent and critic, exposing corruption among the Russian elite and advocating for democratic reforms. Russian authorities announced his death last week, leading to an outpouring of grief around the world. Mr. Biden soon blamed his death on the Kremlin.
In the meeting with Navalny’s family, the president “affirmed that his Administration will announce major new sanctions against Russia tomorrow in response to Aleksey’s death, Russia’s repression and aggression, and its brutal and illegal war in Ukraine,” the White House summary said.
Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, said officials had allowed her to see his body but pressured her to agree to a quiet burial. Yulia Navalnaya accused the Russian authorities of killing her husband with a Soviet-era nerve agent and delaying the release of his body until traces of the poison had vanished. A Kremlin spokesman said the allegations were “absolutely unfounded, insolent accusations about the head of the Russian state.”
As the world continues to mourn the loss of Alexey Navalny, the circumstances surrounding his death remain shrouded in mystery. He had been detained since 2021 after returning to Russia from Germany, where he had been recovering from an unsuccessful poisoning attempt. He was most recently held at a penal colony in Russia’s far north, where he died. Russian authorities have said the cause of his death is still unknown.
The President’s meeting with Navalny’s family underscores the growing tensions between the US and Russia, as the Biden administration prepares to announce major new sanctions against Russia in response to Navalny’s death and the country’s actions in Ukraine. The international community awaits further developments as the situation unfolds.
In conclusion, the meeting between President Biden and Navalny’s family serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing struggle for freedom, democracy, and human rights, not only in Russia but around the world. As the circumstances surrounding Navalny’s death continue to unravel, the global community watches with bated breath for the response from the US and other world leaders.