Putin Says Russia Could Have Killed Navalny Had It Wanted To Bloomberg 12/17/2020 Henry Meyer, Ilya Arkhipov and Stepan Kravchenko
(Bloomberg) President Vladimir Putin dismissed reports linking Russia’s secret services to the near-fatal poisoning of opposition leader Alexey Navalny, saying if authorities had wanted to kill the politician they would have succeeded.
Accusing Navalny of ties to U.S. intelligence, Putin said Russian agents needed to monitor him. “But this doesn’t mean at all we needed to poison him. Who is he of use to? If we had wanted to, we would have finished the job,” he told his annual press conference on Thursday.
Vladimir Putin claims Alexei Navalny would be dead if Russia had poisoned opposition leader
It’s widely suggested that Russia was behind Navalny’s poisoning in August. By AFP Thursday 17 Dec 2020, 1:50 PM Dec 17th 2020, 1:50 PM 11,497 Views 34 Comments
Image: SIPA USA/PA Images
Image: SIPA USA/PA Images
RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR Putin has rejected reports that country’s security services were behind the poisoning of Alexei Navalny, saying that if they were, the opposition leader would no longer be alive.
The Russian opposition leader fell violently ill during a flight from Siberia to Moscow in August and was hospitalised in the Russian city of Omsk before being transported to Berlin by plane.
No media source currently available
0:00
0:02:52
0:00
WATCH: Putin Responds To Navalny Poisoning Investigation With Baseless Claims Of U.S. Involvement
Putin said allegations that the FSB was behind the August poisoning of Navalny in the Siberian city of Tomsk multiple foreign labs identified the toxin as a Soviet-era, Russian-made nerve agent known as Novichok were the work of unspecified media.
“There have always been such sensationalized stories about Russia in the Western media, Putin told his annual press conference. It is not surprising, he said before alleging without evidence that Navalny was in the pay of “U.S. special services.”
»Putin Denies Hand in Poisoning Critic Navalny, Says He Would be Dead If Russia Had Poisoned Him
1-MIN READ
Putin Denies Hand in Poisoning Critic Navalny, Says He Would be Dead If Russia Had Poisoned Him
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks via video call during a news conference in Moscow, Russia on December 17, 2020. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
If the Russian special services had wanted to poison Navalny, they would have taken it to the end, he said.
FOLLOW US ON:
President Vladimir Putin on Thursday rejected reports that Russia s security services were behind the poisoning of Alexei Navalny, saying that if they were, the opposition leader would not be alive. Navalny, 44, fell violently ill during a flight from Siberia to Moscow in August and was hospitalised in the Russian city of Omsk before being transported to Berlin by medical aircraft.
Vladimir Putin Says If Russia Had Poisoned Alexei Navalny He Would Be Dead Vladimir Putin Says If Russia Had Poisoned Alexei Navalny He Would Be Dead Navalny, 44, fell violently ill during a flight from Siberia to Moscow in August and was hospitalised in the Russian city of Omsk before being transported to Berlin by medical aircraft.
Putin rejected reports that Russia s security services were behind poisoning of Alexei Navalny.
Moscow, Russia:
President Vladimir Putin on Thursday rejected reports that Russia s security services were behind the poisoning of Alexei Navalny, saying that if they were, the opposition leader would not be alive.