The wife of the deceased anti-government activist Navalny says "Attempting peace talks with Putin is meaningless... He will break any agreement"

Yulia Navalnaya, Wife of Anti-Government Activist Alexei Navalny
Claims at Munich Security Conference in Germany That Negotiations Are Pointless
"He Will Ultimately Break the Agreement"

Yulia Navalnaya, the wife of anti-government activist Alexei Navalny who was arrested after opposing Russian President Vladimir Putin and died under suspicious circumstances in prison, said on the 14th (local time) that "there is no point in trying to negotiate (a ceasefire in the Ukraine war with Putin)."

Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny imprisoned in a correctional facility. Photo by Yonhap News

According to foreign media including AFP on the 14th (local time), Navalnaya said at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, "Even if you decide to negotiate with Putin, always remember that he will lie." She claimed, "He will change the rules at the last moment and force you to comply with the conditions he presents."

Navalnaya predicted two possible outcomes from a deal with Putin. "If he retains power, he will find a way to break the agreement, and if he loses power, the agreement will become meaningless," she emphasized.

These remarks came two days before the first anniversary of Navalny's death.

Navalny, who exposed corruption among Putin and the Russian elite through the anti-corruption foundation he personally established, was poisoned with the military-grade nerve agent Novichok on a flight from Siberia to Moscow in 2020 and was in critical condition. The following year, he was arrested immediately upon returning to Russia and isolated from society.

Russian judicial authorities kept increasing Navalny's sentence on charges including extremism and fraud. Eventually, at the end of the year before last, Navalny was transferred to a notorious harsh prison in the far north of Siberia. About two months later, on February 16, 2024, he died at the age of 47. The correctional authorities issued only a brief statement claiming he died of 'natural causes.'

Earlier, on the 12th, former U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he had agreed to start negotiations for ending the Ukraine war during a phone call with President Putin. U.S. CNN reported that Russia has already formed a high-level negotiation team consisting of senior politicians, intelligence officials, and economic figures to serve as a dialogue channel for ceasefire discussions.