Thread by @biannagolodryga

I’ve come across several explanations for Biden not mentioning @navalny (in either the read out of his call to Putin, or Thursday’s statement). They suggest it was done to avoid further enraging Putin and thus increasing the risk to Navalny’s life...(1/6)

https://twitter.com/biannagolodryga/status/1382801985120956418

Or perhaps a behind the scenes deal is being negotiated for a prisoner exchange. Here’s why I think both arguments are wrong:

1) Putin can’t be placated once he views someone as an existential threat/enemy (which is how he views Navalny). (2/6)

2) Just yesterday, The Kremlin deemed Navalny and his team “extremists”, putting all of their supporters in legal jeopardy.

3) Navalny will never leave Russia in a prisoner exchange. He voluntarily returned to Russia after being poisoned, knowing he would likely be jailed. (3/6)

4) Navalny knows he becomes irrelevant if he leaves the country. A country he hopes to one day lead.

Navalny’s health is rapidly deteriorating. He is on day 18 of a hunger strike after being denied his right to an outside doctor for ailments he’s developed while in prison. (4/6)

Just today, a Russian medical union urging that he be examined by a doctor, warned that he is at imminent risk of kidney failure and deteriorating vision.

Biden missed 2 opportunities - one private and one public- to express condemnation for the abuses against Navalny... (5/6)

And to remind Putin that he bears responsibility for anything that happens to him. Biden calling Putin a killer really got under his skin. But that is not enough.

Nothing in Putin’s latest actions- Navalny, Ukraine, increased police state- suggests he is de-escalating. (6/6)