The Russian authorities would have never let Alexey Navalny leave for treatment in Germany if they pursued poisoning him, especially given his travel restrictions under a criminal case, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

“If the authorities wanted to poison him, they would have not let him go to Germany for treatment, would they? As soon as the wife of this citizen sent me a request, I immediately asked prosecutors to check if he could go abroad for treatment. They could reject him because he was under court-imposed travel restrictions related to a criminal case against him. I immediately asked the Office of the Prosecutor General to let him do that — and he left,” Putin said while taking the floor at the Valdai Discussion Club.