FLASHBACK: Biden in 2021 Warns of Consequences if Alexei Navalny Dies

Biden: “Every world leader here as a member of NATO that spoke today, and most of them mentioned it, thanked me for meeting with Putin now. Every single one that spoke. And I think there were probably about 10 or 12 that spoke to it, saying they were happy that I did that, that I was going to do that. And they thought it was thoroughly appropriate that I do, and I had discussions with them about — in the open about what they thought was important from their perspective and what they thought was not important. And so the interesting thing is, I know — and I’m not being critical of the press, I really mean this, give you my word. But generically you all thought, was Biden meeting him too soon? I haven’t found a world leader who doesn’t think it’s not soon — it’s just soon enough. Everyone that I’ve spoken to, privately and publicly. It doesn’t mean there aren’t some out there, but it’s not likely that a head of state is going to stand up in front of 29 other heads of state and say, boy, I’m glad you’re doing this, in effect. So there is a consensus. And they thanked me for being willing to talk with them about the meeting and what I was — what I intended to do. So I haven’t found any reluctance. There may be someone, but not in open today or in the meetings I had privately as well. And Navalny’s death would be another indication that Russia has little or no intention abiding by basic fundamental human rights. It would be a tragedy. It would do nothing but hurt his relationships with the rest of the world, in my view, and with me.”

LEMIRE: “Mr. President, just a quick follow-up on the same theme of consequences. You said just now that you spoke to him a lot about human rights. Why did you say would happen if opposition leader Alexei Navalny dies?”
Biden: “I made it clear to him that I believe the consequences of that would be devastating for Russia. I’ll go back to the same point. What do you think happens when he is saying it is not about hurting Navalny, all the stuff he says to rationalize the treatment of Navalny, and then he dies in prison? I pointed out to him that it matters a great deal when a country, in fact — and they asked me why I thought it was important to continue to have problems with the president of Syria. I said because it’s violation of international norm, it’s called Chemical Weapons Treaty. Can’t be trusted. It is about trust. It is about their ability to influence other nations in a positive way.”