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US President Donald Trump said he had not yet seen evidence that the leader of the Russian opposition, Alexei Navalny, was poisoned, according to the German government.
“I don’t know exactly what happened. I think it’s tragic, it’s terrible, it shouldn’t happen,” Trump told a news conference.
“We haven’t had any proof yet, but I’ll take a look at it.”
Trump said he heard that Germany had discovered that Navalny, who fell ill on a flight from Siberia last month, had been poisoned with the deadly nerve agent Novichok.
Since then, Europe has threatened new sanctions and NATO called for an international investigation into the alleged assassination attempt.
Germany has informed its NATO partners and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said there was “evidence beyond doubt” that Navalny was poisoned with Novichok.
“We haven’t seen it ourselves,” Trump said of the German investigators’ evidence. Based on what Germany says, that appears to be the case, he added.
“I would be very angry if that was the case,” he said.
Trump did not say what action he would take if he became convinced that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most powerful political opponent had been the victim of an assassination plot.
But he said he has been “far tougher on Russia than anyone else.”
At the same time, Trump said, he viewed the ongoing nuclear weapons negotiations with Moscow as more important than any other issue.
“It’s the most important thing,” he said.
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