Rubio says US does not dispute European assessment of Navalny poisoning

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Alex Brandon/Reuters The Secretary of State of the United States, Marco Rubio, stated this Sunday (15) that the American government has no reason to contest the report from European allies that blames Russia for the death of opponent Alexei Navalny. Rubio classified the document as “worrying” during a press conference in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, after an official trip to the region. The statement was given after the agenda in Budapest. “We are aware of the report. It is a worrying report. We know Mr. Navalny’s case and we have no reason to question him,” he said. In a joint statement released on Saturday, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands said that analyzes of samples from Navalny’s body “conclusively” confirmed the presence of epibatidine. The substance is a toxin associated with poisonous frogs in South America and does not occur naturally in Russian territory, according to the report. The Russian government, which has repeatedly denied any involvement in the opponent’s death, classified the accusations as “a Western propaganda hoax”, according to the state agency TASS. Asked why the United States did not sign the joint declaration, Rubio stated that the initiative came exclusively from European countries. “These countries came to this conclusion and coordinated the announcement. We chose not to participate — this does not mean we disagree with the result,” he said. “We are not contesting or conflicting with these countries. It was their report.” Navalny died in February 2024 in an Arctic penal colony, where he was serving time after being convicted of extremism and other charges, which he always rejected.

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