US officials sought to procure the release of deceasedRussian dissident Alexei Navalnyfrom Russia duringtheir work on a broader prisoner swapwith the adversary that saw the release of three Americans Thursday, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed.
Sullivan revealed the information at a White House press briefing about a breakthrough deal with the Kremlin that resulted in the release of wrongly detained American journalist Evan Gershkovich, retired US Marine Paul Whelan, and Russian-American radio journalistAlsu Kurmasheva.
“We had been working with our partners on a deal that would have included Alexei Navalny. And unfortunately, he died,” Sullivan explained.