President Biden blamed President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia personally on Friday for the reported death of the imprisoned Russian dissident Aleksei A. Navalny, and cited the case in pressing House Republicans to approve military aid to Ukraine in its war with Moscow.
“Make no mistake: Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death,” Mr. Biden said in a televised statement from the White House. “Putin is responsible. What has happened to Navalny is yet more proof of Putin’s brutality. No one should be fooled, not in Russia, not at home, not anywhere in the world.”
Asked if Mr. Navalny was assassinated, Mr. Biden said the United States did not have a full understanding of the circumstances. “The answer is we don’t know exactly what happened, but there is no doubt that the death of Navalny was a consequence of something that Putin and his thugs did.”
The death of Mr. Navalny came nearly three years after Mr. Biden said he warned Mr. Putin, during a meeting in Geneva, not to harm the dissident while he was in prison, adding that no one would buy any Russian cover stories if he did turn up dead. “I made it clear to him that I believe the consequences of that would be devastating for Russia,” Mr. Biden told reporters following the meeting in 2021.
“What do you think happens when he’s saying it’s not about hurting Navalny, all the stuff he says to rationalize the treatment of Navalny, and then he dies in prison?” Mr. Biden said at the time. “It’s about trust. It’s about their ability to influence other nations in a positive way.”
But the president conceded on Friday that it would be hard to deliver those “devastating” consequences because in the years since, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had prompted the United States and the West to impose broad sanctions and other penalties on Moscow, leaving fewer tools for action. Nonetheless, Mr. Biden said, “We’re looking at a whole number of options.”
The Biden administration has sought to pass a foreign aid package that includes $60.1 billion for Ukraine, but the bill faces Republican resistance in the House of Representatives. Former President Donald J. Trump has encouraged Republican opposition to the measure, and Mr. Biden tried to win over support among splintered Republicans on Friday.
Mr. Biden said Mr. Navalny’s death should remind Americans of the importance of standing up to Mr. Putin and took a swipe at his challenger, Mr. Trump, who said last weekend that he would “encourage” Russia to attack NATO allies that had not spent enough on their own militaries. Mr. Biden, calling that a “dangerous statement,” vowed to stand by Europe against Russian aggression.
The president praised Mr. Navalny’s courage for returning to Russia even after he was poisoned and knew that coming back would put him at risk of being sent to prison, as he was.
“He was so many things that Putin was not,” Mr. Biden said. “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.”