Speaking to reporters late Sunday night, Putin made rare comments on the death of his political nemesis Alexei Navalny.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was upbeat after winning a fifth term in power in Russia's presidential election over the weekend.
Anti-war candidates were barred from the election and most Russian opposition figures are either in self-imposed exile, have been imprisoned, or killed in Russia, such as Navalny, who died in a Russian Arctic penal colony last month. When asked by NBC's Keir Simmons about the death, Putin responded by calling his death a"sad event" and claiming he had been prepared to involve Navalny in a prisoner swap with the West.
"But unfortunately, the thing that happened happened," Putin said, adding,"Such things happen, you can't do anything about it. This is life"
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