US presidential candidate Donald Trump said that Russian President Vladimir Putin was "probably" involved in the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in an Arctic prison last month, UNN reports citing Politico.
"I don't know, but maybe, I mean maybe, I could say probably, I don't know," the Republican presidential candidate said in an interview with Fox News, answering the question whether Putin was responsible for Navalny's death.
"He's a young man, so statistically speaking, he would have been alive for a long time... so something unusual happened," Trump added.
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The newspaper notes that Navalny died on February 16 in a penal colony. The EU and the US have directly accused Russia of Navalny's death, moving toward new sanctions against the Kremlin.
But Trump, who is dominating the Republican presidential primary and currently leading Democratic incumbent Joe Biden in general election polls in several key states, has maintained a soft spot for Putin, who has been waging a full-scale invasion of Ukraine for a long time.
Trump has also repeatedly promised to cut off aid to Ukraine and force Kyiv to the negotiating table with Russia, a position that has fueled concerns among Western allies who fear a second Trump term, the article says.
During the interview, Trump said that he hoped he would not have to choose between letting Putin "swallow" Ukraine or sending weapons to Kyiv.
"I hope it doesn't come to that," he said, reiterating that the war "would never have happened" under his presidency.