The United States considers the statement by five European countries about the epibatidine poisoning of Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny in a Russian colony a “disturbing report”, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in Bratislava on 15 February during his visit to Slovakia.
“This is a disturbing report. We are aware of this case of Mr Navalny, and certainly … We have no reason to question it,” Rubio said.
Asked why the U.S. did not join the statement, Rubio said it was an initiative of European countries. “It doesn’t mean we don’t agree with the outcome. It just wasn’t our initiative. Sometimes countries take and do things on their own based on the intelligence they have gathered,” he added. He said the US “does not deny” this and does not intend to “confront these countries” about the statement.
14 In February, Britain, Sweden, France, Germany and the Netherlands issued a joint statement saying that Alexei Navalny was poisoned in a Russian colony with epibatidine, the poison of a tree frog. This conclusion was reached independently by researchers who examined samples of Navalny’s biomaterials.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called the conclusions of the five countries about Navalny’s poisoning with epibatidine an “information throw-in”. “There will be the results of analyses, there will be formulas of substances – there will be a commentary. Without this, all the talks and statements are information throw-ins to divert attention from the West’s pressing problems,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.