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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