MOSCOW (AP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday rejected allegations that the Kremlin was behind the poisoning of its top political enemy, opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and accused intelligence agencies Americans to encourage claims while still holding out hope of having better ties with Washington.
Putin also expressed hope that the administration of President-elect Joe Biden will move to extend the latest arms control pact between the United States and Russia that is due to expire in early February.
Speaking via video connections during his annual marathon 4-and-a-half-hour press conference, the Russian leader countered the allegations by saying that if the Kremlin wanted to poison Navalny, he would have succeeded.
“If there was that desire, it would have been done,” Putin said with a laugh.
Navalny fell ill on August 20 during a domestic flight to Russia and was taken in a coma to Berlin for treatment two days later. Laboratories in Germany, France, and Sweden, and tests by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, established that he was exposed to a Novichok nerve agent from the Soviet era.
Russian authorities have vehemently denied any involvement in the poisoning.
On Monday, the Bellingcat research group and Russian dam The Insider released a report alleging that agents of the FSB, Russia’s national security agency, which is the KGB’s top successor, followed Navalny during his travels since 2017, had “specialized training in chemical weapons, chemistry and medicine” and “were in the vicinity of the opposition activist during the days and hours of the period during which he was poisoned.”
The investigation, also conducted in collaboration with CNN and Der Spiegel, identified alleged FSB operatives and laboratories working on poisons such as Novichok after analyzing telephone metadata and flight information. They mentioned two cases in 2019 and 2020, in which Navalny or his wife Yulia suffered unexplained symptoms.
Navalny said the investigation has shown beyond any doubt that FSB agents tried to kill him on Putin’s orders.
In his first comment since the report was released, Putin accused it of relying on data provided by U.S. spy agencies. Its authors have denied any links to U.S. intelligence services or any other service.
“It’s not any kind of investigation, it’s just the legalization of materials provided by U.S. special services,” he said, adding that it means Navalny “relies on the support of U.S. special services.”
“It’s curious, and in this case, the special services need to keep an eye on it,” Putin said. “But that doesn’t mean it’s necessary to poison him. Who would need it? “
The president reaffirmed a call on Germany and others to conduct a joint investigation and share specific evidence of Navalny poisoning, including his biological samples.
Speaking in Berlin, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Russia has had ample opportunity to investigate the case.
“In recent weeks and months, we have seen so many smokescreens raised by Moscow in connection with the Navalny case,” he said. “I think there have been several opportunities to investigate the things that happened in Russia in connection with Mr. Navalny’s poisoning there, or at least to start an investigation, but this has never been the case and we have serious doubts about his willingness to fulfill their obligations “.
Putin alleged that Navalny accused the Kremlin of ordering poisoning him to raise his political profile. As before, Putin refrained from mentioning Navalny by his name, referring to him as a “blogger” and “Berlin patient.”
Navalny said after the press conference that Putin did indeed confirm the investigation report showing that the FSB had been shadowing him for nearly four years. “Even Putin, who is the king of lies, cannot deny that FSB agents followed me,” he said on YouTube. He reaffirmed that he planned to return home from Germany to continue his fight against the Kremlin.
Although Putin accused U.S. intelligence agencies, he kept the door open to cooperation with the incoming administration. Putin congratulated Biden on his victory earlier this week.
“We start from the assumption that the newly elected president of the United States would realize what is happening. He has a lot of experience in domestic and foreign policy, and we hope that the problems that have arisen, at least some of them, will be resolved with the new administration, “Putin said.
He noted that Russia remains ready to extend the latest nuclear-weapon control pact between the United States and the United States, the New START, which expires in early February. He added that the disappearance of the agreement “would leave no restrictions on weapons systems.”
Putin stressed that Russia is ready to discuss its new hypersonic weapons system, including the Avangard glider vehicle, in future arms control talks with the United States. He accused Moscow of building Avangard and other new weapons to prevent the U.S.-designed missile defense system from eroding Russia’s nuclear deterrent.
“We had to develop our own missile defense or create immune systems to missile defense,” Putin said. “We did it with hypersonic weapons, including Avangard.”
Russian officials say Avangard can fly 27 times faster than the speed of sound and make abrupt maneuvers on its way to the goal of dodging the enemy’s anti-missile shield.
Putin said Russia is also conducting tests on another hypersonic missile, Zircon, designed for its warships and submarines.
The Russian leader added that the development of other weapons systems he announced in 2018, including the Burevestnik nuclear cruise missile and the Poseidon nuclear drone, was advancing as planned.
Poseidon is able to trigger a nuclear explosion, causing a powerful tsunami.
Russia-US relations have collapsed to post-Cold War lows following Moscow’s annexation of the Ukrainian Crimean peninsula in 2014 and Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election .
Putin has reaffirmed Russia’s refusal to intervene in the 2016 vote to help win Donald Trump and has rejected media reports alleging a new attack by Russian hackers, accusing US authorities of demanding targets of domestic politics.
Asked if Russia would offer Trump political asylum and a job after leaving office, Putin replied that “Trump doesn’t need a job.”
“It has a pretty broad support base in the United States and, from what I understand, it has no intention of abandoning the country’s politics,” Putin said.
__
Associated Press writer David Rising contributed to Berlin.