Angela Merkel Asks Vladimir Putin To Free Jailed Kremlin Critic

"I demanded from the Russian President that he free Navalny," she said in the Kremlin. Putin denied that Navalny was behind bars for his political activity.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to free his political opponent Alexei Navalny from prison on the anniversary of the opposition leader's poisoning. "I demanded from the Russian President that he free Navalny," she said in the Kremlin. Putin denied that Navalny was behind bars for his political activity. (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)