The United States initially attempted to secure the release of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in the negotiations for a large-scale prisoner swap with Russia, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Thursday. “We had been working with our partners on a deal that would have included Alexei Navalny, and, unfortunately, he died,” Sullivan said. On the day of Navalny’s death in February, Sullivan said he had spoken to the parents of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was released as part of a wider prisoner exchange announced on Thursday. “I told them that the president w…