Navalny aide: No war if West had acted earlier
Leonid Volkov, Alexei Navalny鈥檚 Chief of Staff, criticises the West for not taking stronger action against Russia.
The chief of staff to Vladimir Putin鈥檚 most prominent domestic opponent, Alexei Navalny, has spoken to Hardtalk as Russian troops invaded Ukraine on multiple fronts.
Leonid Volkov, who has long lobbied for Western sanctions, said that if the West had acted 鈥渁 couple of years ago, the war would not be happening today.鈥�
Speaking to Stephen Sackur, Mr Volkov compared the West鈥檚 addiction to Russian money to that of a 鈥渉eroin鈥� addict and said the 鈥渢ime has come鈥� for Western leaders to accept the 鈥減ain鈥� of disengaging from the Russian economy.
Like many members of Mr Navalny鈥檚 opposition Anti-Corruption Foundation, Mr Volkov lives in exile and has been designated a 鈥渢errorist and extremist鈥� by Russian authorities. A charge Mr Volkov denies.
Alexei Navalny is currently on trial in a Russian maximum-security prison and faces fraud and contempt of court charges which could add up to 15 years to his sentence. Mr Volkov has said that 鈥渢here is a danger鈥� that Navalny, who was previously poisoned with Novichok, could soon die in prison.
