UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has said in a statement that his country stands “side by side” with partners including France and Germany over "this appalling attack."
He added that Britain would work together to secure sanctions targeting "Russian officials and others who are considered responsible for this crime as well those involved in the development of the Novichok chemical weapon programme.”
Raab was responding to a joint statement by France and Germany following further verification that Novichok was used to poison Navalny, according to the gov.uk website.
The UK foreign secretary was quoted as saying:
“On 6 October, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons confirmed the findings from previous laboratory tests, that Alexey Navalny was poisoned by a military nerve agent of the Novichok group, developed by Russia. The evidence is undeniable. The UK stands side by side with our German and French partners in our response to the abhorrent poisoning of Alexey Navalny.
“Despite having a clear case to answer, the Russian authorities continue to make no credible attempt to investigate this attack. There is no plausible explanation for Mr Navalny’s poisoning other than Russian involvement and responsibility for this appalling attack.
“We will work together with our international partners to take forward sanctions targeting Russian officials and others who are considered responsible for this crime as well those involved in the development of the Novichok chemical weapon programme.
“We will continue to work with the OPCW and all of our international partners to uphold the Chemical Weapons Convention and to hold Russia to account.”
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab. Photo: PAP/EPA/WILL OLIVER
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki last month suggested Russia was a "hostile regime" after Germany’s Angela Merkel said that Navalny had been poisoned with a Soviet-era Novichok nerve agent in an attempt to kill him.
The European Union in early September demanded a transparent probe into "the assassination attempt" on Navalny after toxicological analysis by a specialized German laboratory found traces of a military-grade chemical nerve agent in his body.
Moscow has denied involvement in the incident.
Novichok is the same highly toxic substance that Britain said was used against former Russian intelligence agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in an attack in the southern English town of Salisbury in March 2018.
(gs/pk)
Source: www.gov.uk, Reuters