Putin 'responsible' for Alexei Navalny's death, Biden says as flowers laid in Moscow to opposition leader
Vladimir Putin’s regime is “responsible” for the death of Alexei Navalny, an “outraged” Joe Biden said on Friday.
The US president said: “What has happened to Navalny is yet more proof of Putin’s brutality. No one should be fooled... Putin does not only target citizens of other countries, he also inflicts terrible crimes on his own people.”
“Alexei Navalny was so many things that Putin was not,” he added.
The UK Foreign Office said on Friday night it had summoned the Russian Embassy following Mr Navalny’s death.
In a statement, a spokesperson said Mr Navalny “dedicated his life to exposing the corruption of the Russian system, calling for free and open politics, and holding the Kremlin to account”.
“The Russian authorities saw Mr Navalny as a threat,” said the spokesperson. “Many Russian citizens felt he gave them a voice.
“In recent years, the authorities imprisoned him on fabricated charges, poisoned him with a banned nerve agent, and sent him to an Arctic penal colony. No-one should doubt the brutal nature of the Russian system. His death must be investigated fully and transparently.”
The spokesperson said the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office “today summoned the Russian Embassy to make
