Putin reveals Navalny was to be swapped

 

Russian president said he was ready to exchange the opposition politician for some Russians held by the West

Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny, who died in Russian prison, was to be swapped for some Russian prisoners held in the West, President Vladimir Putin has revealed.

Speaking to supporters on Sunday, Putin said that senior Russian officials had floated the idea of a prisoner swap with the West a few days before Navalny’s death. The latter died in February at the Polar Wolf colony inside the Arctic Circle, where he was serving a lengthy sentence on a number of charges, including those stemming from a fraud case.

The person who talked to me did not even finish the phrase. I said ‘I agree.’ But what happened happened.

The president did not mention which or how many jailed Russian citizens were to be exchanged. He noted that the only condition for the swap would have been that Navalny would not return to the country and stay in the West.

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