March 19, 2024 (EIRNS)—Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed yesterday that senior Russian officials had floated the idea of a prisoner swap with the West, just a few days before Alexei Navalny’s death. Putin described that a senior official had easily secured his approval: “The person who talked to me did not even finish the phrase. I said, ‘I agree.’” Putin pointed out that the only condition for the swap would have been that Navalny would stay in the West and not return to Russia.