US finds Navalny poisoning report “worrying”

“We have no reason to doubt the report”

Germany, France, Great Britain, Sweden and the Netherlands published a joint statement on Saturday on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. It says that scientists have “conclusively” identified the poison Epibatidine detected in samples from the corpse. The highly toxic secretion occurs naturally in South American poison dart frogs. “We are aware of the report, of course,” Rubio said at a news conference. “We have no reason to doubt him.“The US would not dispute the results.

The five European allies concluded that Russia had “the means, a motive and the opportunity” to administer the poison to Navalny. Given the high toxicity, poisoning is the case most likely cause of death. A government official explained that the poison was 200 times stronger than morphine and caused a painful death by suffocation. The government in Moscow immediately rejected the allegations. A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman described it as “pure propaganda.”

“Alarming behavior patterns”

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul emphasized on Saturday that it was now clear that Navalny was poisoned in Russian captivity. “No one except Putin’s henchmen will be able to say how February 16, 2024 in the Russian penal colony went in detail,” said Wadephul on the second anniversary of the opposition figure’s death. Navalny’s widow Yulia Navalnaya was relieved by the evidence. “I was sure from day one that my husband was poisoned,” she explained.

The British government spoke of an “alarming pattern” of behavior by Russia and drew parallels to the poison attack on double agent Sergei Skripal in 2018. Navalny was considered a sharp critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and would have had a good chance of winning an election against the incumbent.