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Biden in conversation with Russia President Putin calls for Navalny release

Biden in conversation with Russia President Putin calls for Navalny release

Biden, Navalny and Putin

US President Joe Biden called on his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to release jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny during their phone call this week.

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters on Friday that Biden pressed Putin on a number of issues, including alleged election interference in the 2020 election, Ukraine sovereignty, the massive SolarWind cyber hack, and Navalny.

The details about the phone call and what was discussed come at a time when Biden is adjusting US policy in a more robust way toward Russia after predecessor Donald Trump refused to take on Putin directly.

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Police detained Navalny at a Moscow airport after he returned to Russia on January 17 from Germany. He had been recovering there from a near-fatal poisoning with the Novichok nerve agent in an attack he blamed on Russian security services and Putin.

The 44-year-old anti-graft campaigner is accused of violating probationary terms of his 2014 suspended sentence on fraud charges by not appearing at Russia's prison service for checks twice a month.

A Russian court on Thursday upheld a decision to detain him for 30 days.

On Thursday, Psaki had said Biden did not hold back in conveying his concerns about the actions of the Russian government during the call.

Earlier this week, a White House statement said the two leaders agreed to have their teams work urgently to complete the extension of the New START arms control pact between the United States and Russia by February 5, when the current deal expires. The arms control treaty limits the United States and Russia to deploying no more than 1,550 strategic nuclear warheads each.