US intel believes Putin likely didn't kill Navalny: report

US intelligence agencies have determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin probably didn't order opposition politician Alexei Navalny killed at an Arctic prison camp in February, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Navalny, 47 when he died, was Putin's fiercest domestic critic. His allies, branded extremists by the authorities, accused Putin of having him murdered and have said they will provide proof to back their allegation.

The Kremlin has denied any state involvement. Last month, Putin called Navalny's demise "sad" and said he had been ready to hand the jailed politician over to the West in a prisoner exchange provided Navalny never returned to Russia. Navalny's allies said such talks had been underway.

The Journal, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, yesterday said that US intelligence agencies had concluded that Putin probably didn't order Navalny to be killed in February.

It said Washington had not absolved the Russian leader of overall responsibility for Navalny's death, however.

The US assessment was based on a range of information, including some classified intelligence, and an analysis of public facts, including the timing of Navalny's death and how it overshadowed Putin's re-election in March, the paper cited some of its sources as saying.

Reuters could not independently verify the report, which cited sources as saying the finding had been "broadly accepted within the intelligence community and shared by several agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the State Department's intelligence unit."

Leonid Volkov, a senior Navalny aide, was cited as calling the US findings naive and ridiculous.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday he had seen the Journal's report, which he said contained "empty speculation".

"I've seen the material, I wouldn't say it's high quality material that deserves attention," Peskov told reporters.