Putin talks hacking, Navalny and Capitol riot ahead of Biden summit

SectionsTVFeaturedMore from NBC Follow NBC News MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin denied ordering a hit on political rival Alexei Navalny, but in an exclusive interview with NBC News he did not guarantee that the jailed Kremlin critic, who survived being poisoned with a nerve agent, would get out of prison alive."Look, such decisions in this country are not made by the president," Putin said.That was one of several striking moments in Putin's first interview in three years with a U.S. news organization, days ahead of his meeting with President Joe Biden in Geneva.Reminded that Navalny wasn't just any prisoner, Putin replied: "He will not be treated any worse than anybody else."Putin spoke for nearly an hour and a half as Biden met with the leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized nations, from which Russia was suspended in 2014 after it annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.Watch more of NBC News' exclusive interview with Vladimir Putin on TODAY, NBC Nightly News, MSNBC and News NowRelations between the U.S. and Russia are at their worst in decades, badly frayed by a string of cyberattacks linked to Moscow, as well as a long list of old grievances — chief among them being Russia's meddling in the 2016 and 2020 U.S. elections. Just unfounded accusations."As recently as April, Biden blacklisted six Russian technology companies that provide support to the cyber program run by Putin's intelligence services, along with dozens of other Russian entities and individuals, for "carrying out Russian government-directed attempts to influence the 2020 U.S. presidential election, and other acts of disinformation and interference."Putin also repeated the call for the U.S. and Russia to join forces to fight cybercrime, saying, "It is our great hope that we will be able to set up this process with our U.S. partners."He proposed a cyber reboot with Washington when former President Donald Trump was still in office last year, but some in the U.S. dismissed his efforts as disingenuous.Download the NBC News app for breaking news and politicsThroughout the interview, Putin relied on the Kremlin's time-tested strategy of deflecting criticism by pointing out America's failures, suggesting that criticism from the West was hypocritical because every country, including Russia and the U.S., acts in its own self-interest.Asked about Biden's criticism that Russia had added to global instability, he accused the U.S. of doing the same in Libya, Afghanistan and Syria.