Germany & France will ask EU allies to place fresh sanctions on Russia over alleged poisoning of opposition figure Navalny

Germany and France will push for targeted EU sanctions against certain Russian individuals over the alleged poisoning of opposition figure Alexey Navalny. They insist the only explanation for the incident is state involvement.

NATO member Britain will also back the proposals which will focus on “individuals deemed responsible for this crime and breach of international norms,” as well as “an entity involved in the Novichok program,” the French and German foreign ministries said in a joint statement on Wednesday.

"No credible explanation has been provided by Russia so far. In this context, we consider that there is no other plausible explanation for Mr Navalny's poisoning than Russian [state] involvement and responsibility,” the statement read. Berlin and Paris said they will share their proposals for sanctions with their EU partners shortly.

Later, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab added that the UK stands "side by side" with France and Germany, declaring that the evidence against Moscow is “undeniable.”

Navalny fell sick on a flight from the Siberian city of Tomsk to Moscow on August 20, forcing the plane to perform an emergency landing. The anti-corruption activist was put into an induced coma at a hospital in the city of Omsk and two days later was transferred to the prestigious Charite clinic in Berlin at the request of his family.

The German medics who treated Navalny said that their tests revealed that he had been poisoned with a substance from the Novichok group of nerve agents.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has also studied the samples provided by Berlin, confirming the presence of a toxic substance from the Novichok group in Navalny’s blood and urine.

This contradicts statements made by the Russian medics in Omsk, who insisted that they had discovered no traces of any known poison in the activist’s system at the time of his admission to hospital.

Navalny, who has since emerged from the coma and was discharged from hospital, said that he blames Vladimir Putin for making an attempt on his life.

Moscow has repeatedly denied any involvement in Navalny’s alleged poisoning and has accused Berlin of failing to provide samples that would prove the use of the nerve agent.

‘Novichok’ became a household name after the chemical poisoning of double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the UK city of Salisbury in 2018. Western powers were also quick to blame Moscow in that instance, slapping sanctions on Russia, before offering any solid evidence of the country's involvement.

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