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Alexey Navalny in the hall of the Babushkinsky district court, where there is a hearing on the case of libel against the veteran of the Great Patriotic War Ignat Artemenko. \u00a9 Sputnik \/ Press service of the Babushkinsky Court of Moscow<\/p><\/div>\n
By Jonny Tickle<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n The Kremlin insists that moves by the imprisoned opposition figure Alexey Navalny\u2019s associates to ask for foreign pressure to seek his release from jail proves that he deserves to be labeled as a foreign agent.<\/p>\n Speaking to the press on Friday, President Vladimir Putin\u2019s spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the latest tactic a\u00a0\u201ccomplete demonstration\u201d<\/em>\u00a0of the fact that Navalny is linked to other countries.\u00a0\u201cIt doesn\u2019t even need any explanation,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0he said.<\/p>\n On Thursday, Navalny\u2019s key ally, Leonid Volkov, announced there would be no more protests in support of the activist until later this year. Large rallies were held around the country on January 23 and January 30, but falling attendances amid mass arrests and a heavy police crackdown has caused his team to reassess. Instead, he revealed they would be using international pressure as a means to get the opposition figure out of jail.\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re opening a second front,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0he said.\u00a0\u201cForeign policy.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n In recent weeks, Navalny has received words of support from countries around the world. On Thursday, US President Joe Biden demanded the release of the activist\u00a0\u201cimmediately and without condition,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0calling his detention\u00a0\u201cpolitically motivated.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cMr. Navalny, like all Russian citizens, is entitled to his rights under the Russian constitution,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0Biden said,\u00a0\u201cHe\u2019s been targeted for exposing corruption.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n In response, Peskov dismissed the demand as\u00a0\u201caggressive and unconstructive rhetoric,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0calling any ultimatum from Washington\u00a0\u201cabsolutely unacceptable.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Navalny\u2019s trial on Tuesday was attended by around 20 diplomats from nations across the world. According to Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, attending the court case of a citizen of a third country is not common practice, as most diplomats would usually attend only to support their compatriots.<\/p>\n \u201cEven if Westerners see Navalny as \u2018theirs,\u2019 he is a Russian citizen. This is no longer just an intervention in the internal affairs of a sovereign state. This is exposing the unsightly and illegal role of the collective West in their attempt to deter Russia.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n