Jen Psaki Shuts Down Putin Spox Who Says Navalny Won’t Be Discussed [VIDEO]

Over the last 4 years, Vladimir Putin has had a pretty easy time with the United States. Not only did Donald Trump see little need to reign in the Russian president, he seemed to celebrate his misdeeds. Things will be quite different for Putin, though, now that Joe Biden is in charge.

Still, the Russian president thinks that he’s calling the shots. Dmitry Peskin, a spokesperson for Putin, recently said that the Russian leader won’t be talking about Alexander Navalny in his upcoming talk with Joe Biden. Biden spox Jen Psaki shut down that idea this weekend, saying that Putin doesn’t call the shots.

When Jake Tapper asked about the Russian comments, Psaki responded, “It may not be on his agenda, and that’s not a surprise, but certainly the president has every intention to raise human rights abuses, the jailing of dissidents and activists, which is a violation of what we feel should be norms around the world.”

The CNN host followed, “How about Trevor Reed and Paul Whelan, Americans in Russian jails right now on very fishy charges?”

White House press secy. Jen Psaki suggests President Biden will discuss the poisoning of Alexei Navalny during his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"The President has every intention to raise human rights abuses and jailing of dissidents and activists," Psaki says. pic.twitter.com/dyC7fovO1Y

— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) June 11, 2021

The press secretary continued:

“Agree, Jake, and we’ve raised that at many levels, raised their jailing at many levels. And certainly, again, human rights abuses, the jailing of individuals, of course, of Americans, will all be part of the discussion. The president is not going to hold back in raising issues where he has concern and he’ll be straightforward and direct with President Putin. That’s the benefit of meeting in person. That’s different than a phone call.”