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- World leaders on Wednesday condemned Russia over Germany’s announcement that Vladimir Putin’s main opponent was poisoned, but President Donald Trump was notably silent.
- The nerve agent Novichok was found in Alexei Navalny’s system, Germany said on Wednesday.
- The spokesman for the National Security Council issued a statement, but Trump said nothing as he continued to attack his own political opponents via Twitter.
- Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.
Hours after Germany announced that the nerve agent Novichok was found in Alexei Navalny’s system, President Donald Trump was silent about it.
The president spent a good part of the day attacking his political opponents on Twitter, but did not take the time to offer his support to Navalny, the most prominent opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump also barely acknowledged the initial reports about Navalny, when it was widely suspected that he had been poisoned.
Navalny fell ill on a flight back to Moscow from Siberia in late August. His assistants suspected he was poisoned. After the authorities initially barred Navalny from leaving, he was allowed to go to Germany for further treatment. The anti-corruption activist is in intensive care at a Berlin hospital.
Several of Putin’s critics have been poisoned or injured in other ways, sometimes fatally, and Navalny appears to be the latest victim.
The only statement Wednesday from the Trump administration on Navalny came from the National Security Council spokesman, who said the United States “will work with allies and the international community to hold Russia accountable.”
It is unusual for a president of the United States not to offer public comment on an incident of this magnitude. Although Moscow denies any involvement, the Navalny poisoning is sure to increase tensions between the Kremlin and the West.
Michael McFaul, a former US ambassador to Russia, called on Trump to condemn the “horrible assassination attempt.”
—Michael McFaul (@McFaul) September 2, 2020
John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, also urged the president to pressure Putin for an explanation.
“It has been confirmed that the leader of the Russian opposition, Alexei Navalny, was poisoned with Novichok, the same family of nerve agent that was used in the 2018 attack on the Skripals in the UK. We need an urgent statement from President Trump demanding a full explanation from the Russians, “he added. Bolton said in a tweet on Wednesday.
Other world leaders quickly and forcefully censured Russia and demanded answers.
“It is outrageous that a chemical weapon has been used against Alexey Navalny,” said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. tweeted on wednesday. “We have seen first-hand the deadly consequences of Novichok in the UK. The Russian government must now explain what happened to Mr Navalny – we will work with international partners to ensure justice is served.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel also insisted that Moscow explain itself.
“This is disturbing information about the attempted murder by poisoning of a leading Russian opposition figure,” he said. “Alexei Navalny was the victim of an attack with a chemical nerve agent from the Novichok group … I strongly condemn him.”
—DW News (@dwnews) September 2, 2020
Putin’s spokesman said Russia would cooperate with Germany’s requests.
“Overall, we confirm that we are ready and interested in full cooperation and data exchange on this issue with Germany,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, the Moscow Times reported.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had also been silent on the matter, despite stating on Aug. 25 that he was “deeply concerned” by preliminary reports suggesting that Navalny was poisoned.
Meanwhile, Pompeo’s counterpart in France, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, said in a statement: “I want to condemn in the strongest terms the shocking and irresponsible use of such an agent.”
The White House and the State Department did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
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