"There is no point in trying to negotiate" with Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Yulia Navalnaia, the widow of the late Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, during the Munich Security Conference on February 14.
Her comments come just two days before the anniversary of her husband's death, which coincided with the opening of the 2024 Munich Security Conference.
Yulia Navalnaia's husband was famously anti-Putin.
Negotiations will lead nowhere with Putin
While American and Ukrainian officials gathered in Europe to discuss possible steps toward negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine, Navalnaia strongly warned against attempting to make deals with Putin.
"Even if you decide to negotiate with Putin, remember that he will lie. He will betray. He will change the rules at the last moment and force you to play his game," she said.
A few days before the Munich Security Conference, former U.S. President Donald Trump had separate talks with both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Trump spoke with Putin first on February 12 and later announced that the two leaders had agreed negotiations to end the war in Ukraine would begin "immediately."
Trump has repeatedly promised that he will secure a deal with Moscow to bring a swift end to the war.
"There are only two possible outcomes for any agreement with Putin," said Navalnaia. "If he remains in power, he will find a way to break the agreement. If he loses power, the agreement will become meaningless."
Navalnaia, who has emerged as a leading figure in the Russian opposition following her husband's death, spoke at the conference alongside exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.
Tsikhanouskaya emphasized that supporting Ukraine against Russian aggression would also help other countries, including Belarus and Moldova.
"By helping Ukraine, you are helping the entire region," she said.
Alexei Navalny died on February 16 in a penal colony in northern Russia after being convicted in multiple fabricated criminal cases as part of the Kremlin’s crackdown on dissent.
Navalnaia has accused Putin of killing her husband and has vowed to continue his political work.
The Kremlin has denied any involvement in Navalny’s death.
Although Navalnaia is a strong critic of Putin's government, she has expressed ambivalence about military support for Ukraine.
In October 2024, she remarked that it was "difficult to say" whether Kyiv should receive weapons, as "the bombs also hit Russians."
