Putin to press Biden on human rights of Capitol rioters, Russia says

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Russian President Vladimir Putin is prepared to press President Biden on the “human rights” of Capitol rioters when they meet this month in Switzerland, the country’s top diplomat says.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said alleged rioters are being “persecuted” and that Putin will turn the tables on Biden over US support for Russian dissidents, such as jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who last year survived poisoning attempts.

“We are ready to talk, we have no taboo topics. We will discuss whatever we think is necessary. We will be ready to answer the questions that the American side will raise. This also applies to human rights,” Lavrov reportedly said at a press conference Monday in Moscow.

“For example, we are following with interest the persecution of those persons who are accused of the riots on January 6 this year,” Lavrov said.

He said that in the US, “a lot of really interesting things are happening from the point of view of the rights of the opposition and protecting those rights.”

The Capitol riot delayed certification of Biden’s victory in the Electoral College and resulted in significant property damage to the building. Former President Donald Trump was impeached a second time for allegedly inciting the mob, but the Senate acquitted him after he left office.

About 440 people have been arrested for participating in the Capitol riot, including 125 people charged with assaulting or impeding police, according to the Justice Department.

The FBI is continuing to distribute wanted fliers to locate additional participants. Some critics say many defendants allegedly did little more than trespass inside the building.

Three Trump supporters died of medical emergencies during hours of mayhem, and another, Ashli Babbitt, 36, was fatally shot by a police officer as she tried to climb through a busted-out window into the House Speaker’s Lobby.

One Capitol Police officer, 42-year-old Brian Sicknick, himself a Trump supporter, died of a stroke after fighting off the crowd. His death originally was misreported as the result of a bludgeoning with a fire extinguisher. At least two police officers and one alleged rioter died by suicide following the riot.

Biden will meet with Putin for the first time of his presidency in about two weeks in Geneva.

The meeting follows a rocky period for US-Russia relations punctuated by the hack last month of the Colonial Pipeline by cybercriminals suspected of residing in Russia. The hack caused gas stations to run dry throughout the southeastern US. This week, a large US meat company, JBS Foods, revealed its operations have been crippled by a similar cyberattack.

Biden in April offered Putin a summer summit during a phone call in which he informed him of US plans to expel diplomats and apply new sanctions as punishment for the SolarWinds hack and alleged Russian meddling in the 2020 election. The Biden administration last month, however, decided not to pursue sanctions to deter the construction of the Nord Steam 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, which the US fears will make NATO allies economically dependent on Russia.

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