President Joe Biden met with Yulia and Dasha Navalnaya, Alexei Navalny’s widow and daughter on Thursday.
In a post on X, Biden wrote that he met with the the loved ones of the late foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Aleksey’s legacy of courage will live on in Yulia and Dasha, and the countless people across Russia fighting for democracy and human rights.”
According to a press statement from the White House, Biden affirmed during the meeting that he plans to announce major new sanctions against Russia on Friday.
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Navalnaya did not comment on the meeting, but posted on X Wednesday, saying she had flown out to see her daughter, Dasha. “I came to hug you and support you, and you sit and support me,” she wrote.
Biden and Navalnaya have both blamed Putin for Navalny’s death. “Make no mistake, Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death,” Biden said on Friday. Navalnaya has been outspoken about the president’s role in her husband’s death and wrote a post on X Thursday, saying the same, but X did not provide the option to translate the post.
Earlier on Thursday, Navalny’s mother announced that she had been able to see her son’s body, after he perished in an Arctic penal colony last week, but that she had been “blackmailed” by Russian officials who had told her she would need to bury her son in secret. The documents reportedly listed a “natural” cause of death, despite previous attempts by Russian henchman to poison the opposition leader.
On Wednesday, Biden called Putin a “crazy SOB” earning ire from Russian officials. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the comment was “probably some kind of attempt to look like a Hollywood cowboy.”
Comparatively, Donald Trump has become obsessed with comparing himself to the late Russian opposition leader, who he feels was equally persecuted.
