(Tribune News Service) — Talks were underway that could have seen Russian dissident Alexei Navalny freed in a prisoner exchange with the United States and Germany before his death in an Arctic prison Feb. 16, a Western official said.

Under the proposed agreement, Russia would have released Navalny, as well as two jailed Americans —Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and businessman Paul Whelan — the official said, asking for anonymity to discuss matters that aren’t public. In return, Germany would have released Vadim Krasikov, a Russian with links to the Kremlin’s Federal Security Service who is serving a life sentence in Germany for the 2019 killing of a former Chechen rebel in a Berlin park.

Now that Navalny is dead, the chances of a swap deal for Krasikov are essentially zero, a person familiar with the situation said, noting that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had been skeptical of the idea of an exchange for the convicted murderer even before Navalny died.

The Western official, meanwhile, said Navalny’s release was not imminent before his sudden death. Earlier Monday, a top Navalny ally, Maria Pevchikh, said in a video statement that he was to be “freed in the coming days.”

Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich was involved in the talks, which had reached a “final stage” after two years of negotiation on the eve of Navalny’s death, according to Pevchikh. She accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of ordering the killing of Navalny because he was unwilling to let his most outspoken critic go free.

People close to Abramovich, who retains close ties to the Kremlin and has helped mediate other prisoner swaps in recent years, said a deal had been in the works for the exchange involving Navalny shortly before he died.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a Telegram message, “I know nothing about this agreement,” in response to a request to comment. U.S. officials and a spokesman for Abramovich didn’t immediately respond to requests to comment. Germany’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment.

“Putin was clearly told that the only way to get Krasikov is to exchange him for Navalny,” said Pevchikh. Instead, he decided to “get rid of the bargaining chip” and “offer someone else when the time comes.”

Gershkovich has been held in a Moscow jail since March of last year after the FSB detained him on spying allegations while he was on assignment in Yekaterinburg. Gershkovich and the Wall Street Journal deny the charges.

Whelan, a former U.S. Marine, was sentenced in 2020 to 16 years on spying charges he denies.

U.S. President Joe Biden has laid responsibility on Putin for the death of 47-year-old Navalny. Prison authorities said the Kremlin critic fell ill after a walk in the remote prison camp, though they refused to allow Navalny’s family or lawyers to view the body for days.

They turned over Navalny’s body to his mother Lyudmila on Saturday after she had accused Russian authorities of pressuring her to agree to a secret burial.

Putin told conservative U.S. commentator Tucker Carlson in an interview this month that talks on swapping Gershkovich were underway and hinted that he wanted Krasikov in return, without naming him.

The U.S. State Department said in early December it made a “new and significant” proposal to Russia for the release of Gershkovich and Whelan, but Moscow had rejected the offer.

Bloomberg staff writer Stephanie Baker contributed to this report.

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