US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on Sunday that the United States does not dispute a joint report from five European allies accusing Russia of responsibility for the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, describing the findings as “troubling.” Speaking at a news conference in Bratislava during a visit to Slovakia, Rubio affirmed Washington's awareness of the assessment while emphasizing there was no reason to question it.
“We obviously are aware of the report. It's a troubling report. We're aware of that case of Mr. Navalny and certainly... we don't have any reason to question it,” Rubio told reporters.
The report stems from a joint statement issued on Saturday by Britain, France, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands. It revealed that analyses of samples from Navalny’s body “conclusively” confirmed the presence of epibatidine, a toxin derived from poison dart frogs in South America and not naturally found in Russia.
In their statement, the five countries asserted: “Russia had the means, motive and opportunity to administer this poison.” They announced plans to report Russia to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons for breaching the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Navalny died in February 2024 while held in an Arctic penal colony. The Russian government has repeatedly denied any responsibility for his death, with state news agency TASS dismissing the latest allegations as “a Western propaganda hoax.”
When pressed on why the United States did not join the European statement, Rubio explained that it was an initiative coordinated by those nations based on their intelligence. “Those countries came to that conclusion. They coordinated that. We chose - Doesn't mean we disagree with the outcome. We just, it wasn't, our endeavour. Sometimes countries go out and do their thing with based on the intelligence they've gathered,” he said.
Rubio's remarks underscore continued transatlantic alignment on holding Russia accountable for Navalny's death, even as the US opted not to participate in the specific joint action led by its European partners.
