Navalny, who has been on a hunger strike for almost three weeks, said in an Instagram report that an official had told him that his health was deteriorating and that he could be forced to feed if he continued not to eat. Navalny demanded that his doctor see him after he had severe back pain and numbness in his leg in prison. Navalny’s wife said he was having problems.
Navalny’s doctor said on Saturday he “could die at any moment.”
Biden’s comments at a golf club in Wilmington, Delaware on Saturday come days after the president imposed new sanctions on the Kremlin and expelled Russian diplomats from the United States. The Biden government is trying to curb the Kremlin over its efforts to interfere in the 2020 election, attempts at cyber espionage by SolarWinds and the country’s occupation of Crimea. In response, Russia suspended US diplomats and banned several prominent US officials from Russia, including Attorney General Merrick Garland.
“I was clear with President Putin that we could go further, but I chose not to do so. I chose to be proportionate, “Biden said on Thursday. “The United States does not want to start a cycle of escalation and conflict with Russia. We want a stable, predictable relationship. ‘
Biden made no mention of Navalny in a speech on Russia on Thursday, and a reading of his Tuesday call with Russian President Vladimir Putin did not specifically mention Navalny, but Biden’s government had earlier called for his release. . Biden has expressed concern over the treatment of Navalny in the Kremlin in his first call with Putin as president in January. The government also condemned Russia for arresting thousands of protesters in January who marched in support of Navalny.