Biden meets with Navajo's wife and daughter

American President Joe Biden met in California with the widow and daughter of the late Russian politician Alexei Navalny, the White House said.

Navajo died last week in a Arctic prison.

Biden met with Yulia and Dassa Navalnaya in San Francisco “to express condolences for their terrible loss”, the White House said through a statement, adding that Biden has reaffirmed the preliminary announcement that on 24 February, the United States will impose new sanctions against Russia due to the death of Navny.

During his meeting, the “president expressed his admiration for Alexei Navajo's extraordinary courage and his legacy in the fight against corruption and for a free and democratic Russia”, the statement was said.

Beden “stressed that Alexei's legacy will be continued by all the people throughout Russia and around the world who honour him and his struggle for freedom, democracy and human rights”.

Russian authorities announced on February 16th that Navajo, 47, died suddenly while he was being held in prison.

Navalny, one of the most vocal critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was serving a long sentence on charges of extremism that have been described by many as politically motivated.

His mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, said Thursday that authorities allowed him to see his son's body, but said they were trying to re-negotiate “by asking him to bury his son secretly.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters that Russian authorities must hand over the body of Navalny to his mother so that she can properly bury her son “and honor his bravery and courage”.

Earlier, the U.S. Government announced raising several charges To wealthy Russians who said they have helped Russia finance the fight against Ukraine.

But US sanctions in response to the death of Navajo will be made public Friday.