President Joe Biden delivers remarks Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. (Evan Vucci/AP)

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Friday blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for the death of Alexei Navalny, an imprisoned political foe, and used the moment to push Congress to approve additional funding for Ukraine to aid the country in its war against Russia.

“Make no mistake, Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death. Putin is responsible,” Biden said in an address from the White House. “What has happened to Navalny is more proof of Putin’s brutality. No one should be fooled, not in Russia, not at home, not anywhere in the world.”

Navalny, 47, was serving a 19-year prison sentence on extremism charges in a remote penal colony above the Arctic Circle at the time of his death. He had been behind bars since he returned from Germany in January 2021, serving time on various charges that he rejected as a politically motivated effort to keep him imprisoned for life.

The news of Navalny’s death comes as a White House request for $110 billion in supplemental funding, including about $60 billion for Ukraine to keep its troops supplied with enough weapons and munitions to beat back invading Russian forces, remains stalled on Capitol Hill.

More U.S. military aid has been delayed for months as Republicans and Democrats spar over the supplemental funding, largely over measures to curb migration at the U.S.-Mexico border.

But the Democrat-controlled Senate managed to pass a $95 billion foreign aid package this week that included $60 billion for Ukraine. In the House, where Republicans hold the majority, funding for more aid is at an impasse.

“We have to provide the funding so Ukraine can keep defending itself,” Biden said. “History is watching the House of Representatives. The failure to support Ukraine at this critical moment will never be forgotten. … The clock is ticking, and this has to happen. We have to help now.”

Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny takes part in a march in Moscow in February 2020. Russia’s prison agency said the imprisoned opposition leader has died. He was 47. The Federal Prison Service said Navalny felt unwell after a walk Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, and lost consciousness. (Pavel Golovkin/AP)

A group of eight House lawmakers, led by Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., on Friday unveiled an alternative bill to the Senate’s foreign aid legislation. It includes more than $66 billion in defense-only funding for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan with provisions to address the U.S. southern border. The bill designates almost $48 billion for Ukraine aid.

“As the world’s oldest and strongest democracy, the United States’ primary responsibility must be to secure its own borders. But we also have an obligation to assist our allies in securing their borders, especially when they come under assault by dictators, terrorists and totalitarians,” Fitzpatrick said in a statement. “Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan are all freedom-loving democracies, they are our allies, and we must assist them in protecting their borders just as we must protect our own. We can, and must, achieve all of the above.”

Some Democrats in both chambers expressed frustrations about delays in approving more aid for Ukraine.

“House members blocking critical aid to Ukraine can revel in another high-five for Putin who just murdered his most vocal and visible critic,” Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., posted: “Putin murders Navalny the same week Donald Trump invites Russia to invade Europe and MAGA [House Speaker] Mike Johnson blocks aid to Ukraine. This isn’t a coincidence; it’s the green light Putin has been given.”

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said as people mourn the loss of Navalny, it is important for the “free world to remain united in the face of Russia’s continued aggression.”

“For the sake of global security, House Republicans must take up and help pass the Senate’s bipartisan bill to deliver aid to Ukraine immediately,” said Duckworth, a former Army Black Hawk pilot and Iraq War veteran.

The U.S. has provided more than $44 billion in aid to Ukraine since the Russian invasion in February 2022, which will soon stretch into its third year.

The Pentagon announced its last military aid package for Ukraine — worth $250 million — on Dec. 27. The U.S. has participated in two Ukraine Contact Defense Group meetings in 2024, but it has not been able to contribute any additional aid.

A senior defense official Friday said the U.S. estimates at least 315,000 Russian forces have either been killed or wounded in their war against Ukraine. Twenty Russian warships and a Russian tanker have been sunk or damaged, the official added.

“We do absolutely need this supplemental funding. There is no substitute for it,” said the defense official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “Without supplemental funding we will not be able to continue to supply Ukraine’s air defenses and we will see the results in cities being bombarded. We will see more civilians dying. We will see Ukraine struggling to protect their critical infrastructure and their forward line of troops.”