The White House Confirms That an Exchange for Navalny Was Planned Before His Death.

US President's National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan reported that Alexei Navalny was supposed to be part of a large-scale deal between the West and Russia regarding the exchange of prisoners.

This information was disclosed during a briefing on Thursday, August 1.

"The US, together with partners, was working on a deal that would concern Alexei Navalny. Unfortunately, he passed away," Sullivan stated.

It is worth noting that earlier, political allies of Navalny mentioned the possibility of such an exchange. Recall that on February 16, the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service reported the death of the oppositionist in correctional colony No. 3 of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District.

US intelligence services concluded that Vladimir Putin likely did not give a direct order to kill Navalny.

In the context of international prisoner exchanges, Turkey officially confirmed on Thursday the exchange of 26 individuals who were held in prisons in seven different countries – the USA, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, Russia, and Belarus. Among those released were Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, US Marine Paul Whelan, German citizen Rico Krieger, who was imprisoned in Belarus, and Russian opposition activist Ilya Yashin.