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NATO allies have agreed that Russia must cooperate fully with an impartial investigation to be led by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons into the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the alliance chief said.
Germany, where Navalny is hospitalized, has said he was poisoned with a Soviet-style Novichok nerve agent.
Russia has so far not opened a criminal investigation and said there is no evidence of a crime yet.
“Any use of chemical weapons shows a total lack of respect for human lives and is an unacceptable violation of international norms and norms,” Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told a press conference.
“NATO allies agree that Russia now has serious questions that it must answer. The Russian government must cooperate fully with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in an impartial international investigation,” he said, reporting on an alliance meeting. ambassadors.
Navalny is President Vladimir Putin’s most popular and prominent opponent, and the German announcement this week that he was poisoned by a nerve agent has raised the possibility of further Western sanctions against Moscow.
Stoltenberg said that NATO allies asked Moscow to provide a full disclosure of the Novichok program to the OPCW.
“Those responsible for this attack must be held accountable and brought to justice. Time and again we have seen opposition leaders and critics of the Russian regime attacked and their lives threatened. Some have even been killed,” he said.
Describing the Navalny case as “an attack on fundamental democratic rights” as well as an individual, he said that NATO allies will continue to consult on the incident and “consider the implications.”
Novichok was the same substance that was used against former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the English city of Salisbury two years ago.
The Skripal case, the first offensive use of chemical weapons in Europe since World War II, led NATO to expel seven Russian diplomats in retaliation.
Read more:
Navalny ‘poisoned by Novichok’ says Germany
EU calls for ‘independent’ investigation into Navalny case
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell previously asked Moscow to cooperate with an international investigation into the poisoning and said the 27-nation bloc would not rule out sanctions.
Brussels condemned the assassination attempt “in the strongest terms,” Borrell’s statement said.
The EU said the use of chemical weapons “is completely unacceptable under any circumstances (and) constitutes a serious violation of international law and international human rights standards.”
The Russian government “must do everything possible to investigate this crime thoroughly with full transparency and bring those responsible to justice. Impunity must not be and will not be tolerated,” Borrell said.
The EU wants Russia to cooperate with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), based in The Hague, to “ensure an impartial international investigation” necessary to identify those responsible.
In Washington, Democratic senators lobbied the US Treasury to impose sanctions on Russian organizations and individuals for interfering in the elections, saying that intelligence shows that Moscow is seeking to damage Joe Biden’s candidacy.
Navalny’s poisoning is the latest in a long series of assassination attempts against critics of the Kremlin.
Russia denies there is any evidence that Navalny was poisoned and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said yesterday that Berlin had not provided evidence to Moscow.
“There is no reason to accuse the Russian state,” Peskov said, refusing to talk about economic sanctions and urging the West not to “rush to judge.”
Already suffering from the extensive Western sanctions imposed by its annexation of Crimea in 2014, as well as the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and falling oil prices, Moscow will be eager to avoid any additional pressure on its economy.
Germany’s announcement saw the ruble fall to its lowest level against the euro since 2016 and the Moscow RTS stock exchange fell more than 3%.
Navalny’s main ally, Ivan Zhdanov, told AFP that the poisoning opened a “new chapter” in the Kremlin’s crackdown on dissent and said this is the first time a banned war agent has been used against a leader of the opposition on Russian soil.
Navalny fell ill after boarding a plane in Siberia last month, and his assistants said they suspect he drank a spiky cup of tea at the airport.
He was initially treated at a local hospital, where doctors said they couldn’t find any toxic substances in his blood, before he was transferred to Berlin for specialized treatment on August 22.
The charismatic Yale-educated attorney is still in the intensive care unit and remains on a ventilator.
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