Harris warns ‘Russia is responsible’ for Navalny death as world leaders react

US Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday placed blame for the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny squarely on the shoulders of Russian president Vladimir Putin, leading a string of world leaders who have reacted in horror to the news.

Ms Harris told attendees at the annual Munich Security Conference that the US government is still working to confirm the facts and circumstances of Navalny’s passing, but called the development “terrible news” while offering prayers to his family, including his wife Yulia Navalnaya, who is also attending the conference.

“If confirmed, this would be a further sign of Putin's brutality,” said Ms Harris, who then added: “Whatever story they tell, let us be clear, Russia is responsible”.

Ms Harris’ comments echoed remarks made by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the hours after Navalny’s death was announced in Russian state media.

Mr Blinken, who is attending the conference as part of the US delegation led by Ms Harris, told reporters travelling with him in Germany that Russia had “persecuted, poisoned, and imprisoned” the anti-corruption activist for decades and said the report of his death, if true, “underscores the weakness and rot at the heart of the system that Putin has built”.

“Russia is responsible for this,” Mr Blinken said.

He added that he and other US officials would be “talking to the many other countries concerned about Alexei Navalny, especially if these reports turn out to be true”.

Mr Blinken’s British counterpart, Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron, said there should be “consequences” for Vladimir Putin as he blamed Alexei Navalny’s death on the “action that Putin’s Russia took”.

Speaking to broadcasters in Munich, the Foreign Secretary said: “Alexei