US ‘not disputing’ European assessment of Navalny poisoning, Rubio says
Al Jazeera
The secretary of state says Washington will not fight European partners on their findings as the UK considers new sanctions.
The United States says it is not disputing European findings that Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny was poisoned with a rare frog toxin as the United Kingdom signals possible new sanctions against Moscow.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking during a visit to Slovakia on Sunday, called the European report “very troubling” and “very serious”.
The UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden on Saturday accused the Russian state of killing Navalny two years ago in a Siberian penal colony.
In a joint statement, the five countries said laboratory analysis of samples from his body found epibatidine, a toxin associated with South American dart frogs, and argued there was no innocent explanation for its presence.
The announcement, made almost exactly two years after Navalny’s death in February 2024, increases pressure on the Kremlin and raises the prospect of further coordinated Western action.
Foreign minister says regional powers have been ‘far more effective’ than the European countries.