Trump sidesteps question about poisoning of Putin critic Alexei Navalny: ‘We’ll talk about that at another time’

• President Donald Trump dodged a White House reporter’s question on the poisoning of Russian President Vladimir Putin critic Alexei Navalny, saying “we’ll talk about that at another time.”
• Navalny, an anti-corruption activist and prominent critic of Putin, was poisoned on a flight from Siberia in late August and has been recovering in a German hospital.
• At the hospital, the nerve agent Novichok was found in his system, which has been used to poison other Russian dissidents.
• In his first public message since the incident, Navalny posted on Instagram last week. He intends to return to Russia upon his full recovery, according to his press secretary.
• “Hi, this is Navalny,” Navalny said in Russian in the caption, which was translated by CNN. “I miss you. I still can hardly do anything, but yesterday I was able to breathe on my own for the whole day. Just myself. I did not use any outside help, not even the simplest valve in my throat.”
• World leaders condemned Russia in the week following the incident. Former Vice President Joe Biden also slammed the Kremlin, blaming the Russian government for Navalny’s poisoning.
• “Once again, the Kremlin has used a favorite weapon – an agent from the Novichok class of chemicals – in an effort to silence a political opponent,” Biden said.
• The president has since largely stayed silent with regard to the incident.
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—Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 21, 2020