The investigation, which Navalny endorsed, said it had identified a team of assassins from Russia’s FSB security service, who had stalked him for years. It named the intelligence officers and poison laboratories it said were behind the operation.
“It’s a trick to attack the leaders (of Russia),” says Putin.
Speaking at his annual press conference, Putin added that Russian hackers had not meddled in the 2016 U.S. presidential vote to help Donald Trump get elected.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he had not yet decided whether or not he would run for president again when his current term in the Kremlin ends in 2024.
Yet the pandemic coupled with low oil prices saw incomes fall 8.4pc in the second quarter, year-on-year, in what became the deepest quarterly decline since 1999.
The Russian market will have one eye on Thursday on Putin fielding questions from the media, an annual event, which can last for several hours and is due to begin at 1200 (0900 GMT) in Moscow.
The Russian leader wished the US president-elect every success, adding that: "For my part, I am ready for collaboration and contacts with you," according to a Kremlin statement.
Sputnik V, one of two Russian-made vaccines to have received regulatory approval in Russia despite clinical trials being incomplete, requires two injections.
The ceasefire signed on Nov. 10 halted military action in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but populated by ethnic Armenians, after the worst fighting in the region since the 1990s.
The two leaders expressed serious concern over the large-scale clashes between ethnic Armenian and Azeri forces in the region and the involvement of fighters from Syria and Libya in the conflict.
Putin informed Macron of the steps Russia had taken towards implementing a ceasefire.
Pushed by France and Germany, where Navalny was treated after collapsing on a flight from Siberia, the EU targeted six Russians and a state scientific research centre.
Russia's ties with the United States remain strained over many issues, from arms control to the conflict in Syria, as well as allegations of Russian interference in US politics, something Moscow denies.
It added that Putin and Macron shared the idea that the best way forward was to resort to mediation by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
The two leaders are expected to confirm to continue to cooperate in a wide range of areas including the economy, as well as the importance of peace treaty talks, the report said.
We are proposing to hold an online high-level conference shortly for countries interested in cooperation in the development of anti-coronavirus vaccines.
Several countries are now considering adopting emergency measures that would fast-track approval of a vaccine in a similar way.