[ad_1]
Excerpts from the interviews are published by the television channel itself.
An NBC News reporter asked the Russian president if he could guarantee that Navaln would get out of prison alive.
“I refuse to speculate on what might happen to the person he has appointed, whether action will be taken and, if so, whether it will be worse than against anyone else in prison,” Putin said.
The journalist reacted: “His name is Alexei Navaln. People will realize, they will realize what you said, that he won’t get out of jail alive. “
Putin interrupted the journalist and added: “And I don’t care.”
He said the Russian government “has no tradition” of killing anyone. He thus answered the question whether he had ordered the assassination of A. Navalna.
“We are not in the habit of killing anyone,” said the Russian president.
Asked about Navalna and the accusations of dealing with dissidents, Putin replied: “They present him as dissidents and intolerance of dissidents in Russia, we see it very differently.”
The Russian president also said he was willing to exchange prisoners with the United States, an issue that was on the agenda of a meeting of the two leaders in Geneva on Wednesday. He assured that jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navaln would be “treated no worse than anyone else.”
“I know we have American citizens … in prisons, but if we look at how many citizens of the Russian Federation are in American prisons, then it is incomparable,” he said, adding that he was ready to discuss the prisoner swap. .
During the interview, Putin was asked about the Americans imprisoned in Russia, Paul Whelan and Trevor Reed.
Former US Marine T. Reed was sentenced to nine years in prison last July on charges of assaulting two drunken Russian policemen in Moscow. In court, he did not admit guilt and said he did not remember the incident because he was drunk.
In addition, former Marine P. Whelan was sentenced to 16 years in prison in Russia last June for espionage. He did not plead guilty but did not appeal the verdict because he expected to be acquitted soon. In a recent interview, he asked Biden to agree with Putin on a prisoner swap and said he was a victim of hostage diplomacy.
Moscow may seek the return of US-based arms dealer Viktor Butas and suspected drug trafficking contractor Konstantin Yaroshenko.
It is strictly forbidden to use the information published by DELFI on other websites, in the media or elsewhere, or to distribute our material in any way without consent, and if consent has been obtained, it is necessary to indicate DELFI as the source.
[ad_2]
