UK backs France, Germany for pressing sanctions over Navalny pensioning

The UK has joined France and Germany in threatening sanctions against Russia for the alleged poisoning of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s critic Alexei Navalny. British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a statement on October 7 that the evidence of Russian opposition leader being poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent developed by Russia was now “undeniable” and that the UK backs German and French partners in their response. Raab also added that despite having “clear case to answer”, the Russian authorities are continuing to make “no credible attempt” in investigating the attack.

British Foreign Secretary said, “On 6 October, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons confirmed the findings from previous laboratory tests, that Alexey Navalny was poisoned by a military nerve agent of the Novichok group, developed by Russia. The evidence is undeniable.”

“Despite having a clear case to answer, the Russian authorities continue to make no credible attempt to investigate this attack. There is no plausible explanation for Mr Navalny’s poisoning other than Russian involvement and responsibility for this appalling attack,” the statement added.

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France, Germany press for sanctions

Earlier in a joint statement, France and Germany had said that based on the conclusions drawn from the incident involving the alleged poisoning of Alexei Navalny and the response by the authors, both nations pressed for sanctions. In the statement, the foreign ministries said that “No credible explanation has yet been provided by Russia” and therefore, the sanctions will be targetting the responsible officials for “crime and violation” of international standards. 

France, Germany said in a joint statement, “We consider in this context that there is no other plausible explanation for the poisoning of Mr. Navalny than a Russian responsibility and implication.”

“Drawing all the conclusions from this observation, France and Germany will send their European partners proposals for additional sanctions. These proposals will target people whom we consider responsible for this crime and violation of international standards, because of their official functions, and an entity involved in the Novichok program,” it added.

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Image: AP