U.S. President Joe Biden said Saturday that jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who doctors have warned faces imminent cardiac arrest due to his hunger strike, was in a “totally unfair” situation.
“It’s totally, totally unfair,” Biden told reporters, in response to a question about Navalny’s reportedly worsening condition in a Russian penal colony.
“Totally inappropriate,” he added.
On March 31, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent opponent went on hunger strike to demand proper medical treatment for back pain and numbness in his legs and hands.
Navalny, 44, was imprisoned in February and is serving two-and-a-half years on old embezzlement charges.
Navalny’s personal doctor Anastasia Vasilyeva and three more doctors including cardiologist Yaroslav Ashikhmin have asked prison officials to grant them immediate access.
“Our patient can die any minute,” Ashikhmin said on Facebook on Saturday, pointing to the opposition politician’s high potassium levels and saying Navalny should be moved to intensive care.
“Fatal arrhythmia can develop any minute.”