Alexei Navalny’s team said Monday that an agreement to exchange the opponent was “in progress and in its final phase” with the Russian authorities, before his death in prison 10 days ago.
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According to Maria Pevtchikh, a close collaborator of Mr. Navalny, he should have been exchanged along with “two American citizens” detained by Moscow for a Russian imprisoned in Germany.
“I received confirmation (of the fact) that the negotiations were underway and in their final phase,” she added, assuring that the opponent “should have been released in the days to come.”
According to Ms. Pevtchikh, her team had been “working” for two years to “get” Alexeï Navalny out of prison “at all costs”, on the basis of an exchange of “Russian spies for political prisoners” in Russia.
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Washington and Berlin were aware, she continued, deploring however that they “did nothing” despite initial “promises”.
After several months without progress, the agreement “was put back on the table in December” 2023, Maria Pevtchikh said in a video.
Assassination in Germany
According to Ms. Pevtchikh, Vadim Krassikov, sentenced to life imprisonment for the assassination in 2019 in a Berlin park of a former Chechen separatist, was to be included in this exchange of prisoners.
German justice claims that this murder was directly ordered by the Russian authorities, who have always denied any involvement.
In what appears to be a reaction on That’s what I think”.
Questioned by journalists, the head of German diplomacy Annalena Baerbock refused to comment on the statements of the opponent’s team.
The United States also declined any comment on possible involvement in negotiations for the opponent’s release.
“All I will say on this subject is that we have called for the release of Alexei Navalny for a long time,” American diplomatic spokesperson Matthew Miller told the press.
He also declined to comment on accusations that Mr. Navalny may have been killed as a result of an imminent exchange. “As we have said, we believe that (Russian President) Vladimir Putin and the Russian government are responsible for his death,” Miller said.
“Public farewell” desired
On Monday, Matthew Miller recalled, without saying more about the content of the negotiations, that Washington had proposed in December to exchange two Americans: Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich, arrested in March 2023, as well as a former marine, Paul Whelan.
The circumstances of Alexeï Navalny’s death on February 16, which caused great emotion across the world, remain unclear. According to the Russian penitentiary service, he lost his life following a sudden malaise “after a walk”.
Several Western countries, including the United States and Germany, have accused Vladimir Putin of being responsible.
At present, Alexeï Navalny’s team says it is still looking for “a room for a public farewell (…) at the end of the week” to the former number one opponent in the Kremlin.
However, if his funeral were to be public, it would risk mobilizing his supporters in large numbers and being embarrassing for Vladimir Putin, who is preparing for a new coronation following an unopposed presidential vote, scheduled to take place from March 15 to 17.
After several days of waiting, his body was handed over to his mother, Mr. Navalny’s relatives announced on Saturday.
Vladimir Putin, for his part, has still not reacted to the death of his main detractor, who narrowly survived a poisoning in 2020 for which he already held the head of the Kremlin responsible, despite his denials.