U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has described as “disturbing” a report by five European countries accusing Russia of assassinating Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny using a toxin extracted from a poisonous frog species.
“This is a disturbing report. We are aware of Mr. Navalny’s case and certainly have no reason to doubt it,” Marco Rubio said at a press conference in Bratislava, according to Reuters.
Asked why the United States is not among the signatories of the report, Rubio explained that it was an initiative started by France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Sweden.
“These countries have reached this conclusion. They coordinated the initiative. That doesn’t mean we don’t agree with the conclusions, just that it wasn’t our initiative. Sometimes, countries do their job based on the information they have obtained. We are not disputing or entering into a dispute with these countries on this matter. But it was their report,” the Washington official further stated.
Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who died in unclear circumstances in a Siberian prison in February 2024, was “poisoned” with a “rare toxin” – epibatidine – by Moscow, according to an investigation conducted by five European countries, including the United Kingdom, the findings of which were revealed on Saturday by London, AFP reports.
“We know that the Russian state used this lethal toxin to target Navalny, fearing his opposition,” the British Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued alongside Sweden, France, the Netherlands, and Germany, as the date marking two years since the death of the fervent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin approaches.
Alexei Navalny died on February 16, 2024, at the age of 47, in a Russian prison in the Arctic Circle, depriving the opposition of its most charismatic and popular leader.
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