Navalny knew he was breaking the law; deserved prison sentence: Putin after Biden Summit

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny ignored the law when he went to Germany for treatment last year. Putin said Navalny knew he was breaking the law in Russia and got what he deserved when he was handed a prison sentence.

"This person knew that he was breaking the law in Russia," Putin said after a summit with US President Joe Biden in Geneva, in reference to Navalny violating the conditions of a suspended sentence.

Navalny, Putin’s most ardent political critic, was arrested in January upon returning from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from a fatal poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin — an accusation that Russian officials reject. In February, Navalny was given a two- and half-year prison term for violating the terms of a suspended sentence from a 2014 embezzlement conviction that he dismissed as politically motivated.

Speaking Wednesday after a summit with U.S. President Joe Biden in Geneva, Putin said Navalny received his due punishment for violating the terms of his probation, adding that he was aware that he was facing a prison sentence when he returned to Russia. “He deliberately moved to be arrested,” Putin said, sticking to his habit of not mentioning Navalny by name.

Last week, a Moscow court outlawed the organizations founded by Navalny by labelling them extremist, the latest move in a campaign to ‘silence’ dissent and bar Kremlin critics from running for parliament in September.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin concluded their meetings in Geneva on Wednesday. The pair held talks for nearly four hours, first in a smaller session and later in a larger meeting that included more officials from both sides and which lasted about 65 minutes.

US, Russia agree to return ambassadors

In a positive development, Putin and Biden agreed to return their ambassadors to their posts in a bid to lower tensions between the two countries. The return of ambassadors comes after a diplomatic tug-of-war between the US and Russia that saw deep cuts in diplomatic personnel.

Apart from agreeing to return ambassadors to their posts, the leaders also agreed to "begin consultations" on cybersecurity. Putin called the meeting "quite constructive."

"I don’t think there was any kind of hostility, on the contrary, the meeting was obviously a fundamental one ... I think it was quite constructive," the Russian leader said. "I think that both of these sides showed a willingness to understand one another and to find ways to bring our positions closer together," Putin added.