Marco Rubio Calls Report On Navalny Poisoning 'Troubling'

The US has stated that it is not questioning European reports that Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny was poisoned with a rare frog toxin, as Britain suggested it may introduce new sanctions against Moscow. On Saturday, the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden alleged that Navalny was killed by the Russian state while held in a Siberian prison colony two years ago.

According to a joint statement by the five countries, laboratory tests detected epibatidine in samples taken from his body, noting that its presence raised serious suspicions. Russian authorities have consistently denied involvement in Navalny’s death, calling the latest allegations “a Western propaganda hoax", according to state news agency TASS.

European officials said their investigation raises serious questions about Russia’s earlier claim that Navalny died of natural causes. The countries indicated they would take the case to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, accusing Russia of a possible Chemical Weapons Convention violation that could trigger formal global scrutiny.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the European report as “very troubling” and “very serious” while visiting Slovakia on Sunday. UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the government would continue exploring joint action, including the expansion of sanctions against Russia. The five European nations noted that epibatidine is not naturally found in Russia and said Moscow had the means, motive, and opportunity to use the toxin while Navalny was in custody.

Navalny died while imprisoned in a remote Arctic penal colony, where he had been sentenced to 19 years. Samples were collected before his burial and sent to laboratories. Suspicions that the Russian state poisoned him were widespread, but the identification of the exact toxin in his body is a recent breakthrough. In a post shared last September, Yulia Navalny claimed there was proof that poison was present in Navalny’s body during the autopsy and described Vladimir Putin as a murderer.