Joe Biden attacks Russia and Vladimir Putin after the death of Aleksei Navalny. The Russian president does not comment on the dissident's death, Moscow speaks only through spokesmen from the Kremlin and the Foreign Ministry. It is the secondary figures who respond to the accusations coming from Washington and throughout the West on a crucial day.
Navalny, detained since January 2021, dies in the Siberian prison where he spent the last months of his life. The 47-year-old Putin opponent, awaiting official communications, would have died of an embolism, as Russian state TV reported. A fatal illness after a walk, according to the prison services, which underline the futile efforts of the doctors and the resuscitation attempts that lasted half an hour.
The substance, for Biden, does not change: “Putin is responsible for Navalny's death”, says the President of the United States speaking from the White House at 12pm in Washington. “People all over Russia and all over the world mourn Navalny. He was first poisoned and then unjustly accused, convicted and placed in solitary confinement. He was everything that Putin is not – continues the number 1 of the White House – he was courageous, with principles. He was dedicated to building a Russia, where the rule of law could exist and fought for it to be applied everywhere. He believed that this was the Russia worth living and dying for.
The death “is the consequence of what Putin did”, he reiterates. “We don't know exactly what happened, but there is no doubt that Navalny's death is the consequence of something that Putin and his bandits did.”
In 2021, Biden had sent a clear message to Putin after the arrest of Navalny: the possible death of the dissident would have had consequences. Now, the drama has unfolded. “Consequences for Russia? They have already suffered many and other options are being examined.” Compared to 3 years ago, “in the meantime they have had to face many consequences and have had 350 thousand dead and wounded among Russian soldiers in Ukraine. They have been subjected to strong sanctions and we are thinking about what else can be done… We are looking at a whole range of options.” Navalny's death adds further tension on the Moscow-Washington axis after the alarm, which all things considered subsided at least immediately, over the news relating to the Russian project to develop weapons capable of hitting American satellites. In the background, the war in Ukraine: now more than ever, says Biden addressing deputies of the House of Representatives, it is vital to give the green light to the 61 billion dollar package with weapons and aid for Kiev.
Putin's silence
Putin does not respond to Biden's torpedoes. The Tass agency, on its channels, broadcasts the usual mass of statements from the president focused in the last few hours on Russian industrial production. It is up to the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, to stand up to the attacks coming from the West. “There is no information on the causes of his death – says the presidential spokesperson – And statements of this type are arriving. Obviously they are absolutely angry. We consider these statements absolutely unacceptable”.
“There were no statements from doctors, no information from forensic experts, there was no definitive information from the Federal Penitentiary Service,” adds Peskov, underlining that “everything was said, the president received a report , now the FPS does everything that needs to be done.”
The other face of Russian institutional communication, Maria Zakharova, is on the same wavelength. ''The West jumps to conclusions'' with ''the immediate reaction of the leaders of the NATO countries to the death of Alexey Navalny with direct accusations against Russia'', says the spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry, stating that ''the forensic investigations have not yet been completed'' on the death of the Russian dissident in prison, ''but the West's conclusions are already ready.”
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