President Joe Biden has said Vladimir Putin is responsible for the death of Alexei Navalny.
At a White House Press conference, the 81-year-old Commander-in-Chief said that he was both not surprised and outraged by the news.
Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's most prominent domestic opponent fell unconscious earlier today.
It has been reported he died after a walk at the "Polar Wolf" Arctic penal colony where he was serving a three-decade sentence.
President Biden has been holding a press conference
Reuters
President Biden said: "Like millions of people around the world I’m literally both not surprised and outraged by the news. He bravely stood up to the corruption the violence and all of the bad things the Putin government was doing.
"In response, Putin had him prisoned he had him arrested... he sentenced him to prison he was held in isolation - even all that didn’t stop him from calling out Putin’s lies. Even in prison, he was a powerful voice for the truth."
The Potus pointed the finger of responsibility directly at the Kremlin, saying: "Make no mistake: Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death...what has happened to Navalny is yet more proof of Putin’s brutality.
"Putin does not only target the citizens of other countries... he also inflicts terrible crimes on his own people. He was brave, he was principled, he was dedicated to building a Russia where the rule of law existed and where it applied to everybody."
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Alexei Navalny was confirmed dead earlier today
Reuters
He added: "Navalny believed in that Russia – he knew it was a cause worth fighting for and obviously even dying for.
"We don't know exactly what happened, but there is no doubt that the death of Nalvany was a consequence of something that Putin and his thugs did."
President Biden also said he was "contemplating" additional steps to punish Russia in the aftermath of Navalny's death. He did not say exactly what these extra steps were.
He said: "We're contemplating what else can be done...We're looking at a whole number of options, that's all I'll say right now."
Vladimir Putin was blamed for the death of Navalny by Biden
Reuters
Biden also told reporters that there was "no nuclear threat to the people of America or anywhere else in the world with what Russia is doing at the moment," even as Russia considered deploying anti-satellite technology in space. Russia has previously denied the claim.
Biden and Putin remain deeply at odds over Russia's invasion of Ukraine two years ago, over which Russia has been sanctioned by the US and other Western nations, and Biden is urging Republican hardliners in the US Congress to support additional funding to pay for more weaponry for Ukraine's military.
Russia has figured prominently on the campaign trail as Biden seeks re-election in November.
His expected Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, triggered bipartisan outrage last week by saying he would do nothing to defend NATO allies from Russia unless they paid a greater share for the common defences.