A participant holds a sign that reads “One for all, all for one” during a rally in support of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow, Russia, on January 23, 2021.
Maxim Shemetov | Reuters
In his first press conference since he was appointed Secretary of State, Antony Blinken expressed his “deep concern” about the treatment of Alexei Navalny and the wider human rights situation in Russia.
Last week, Navalny, a critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, flew from Berlin to Russia, where he has recovered almost half a year since he was reportedly poisoned last summer. On arrival in Moscow he was detained.
“Across the board, as the president has said, we are looking at all these actions that are of great concern to us whether it is Mr. Navalny’s treatment and especially the apparent use of a chemical weapon in an attempt to kill him.” Shine.
Last year, Navalny was medically evacuated from a Russian hospital to Germany after becoming ill after reports that something had been added to his tea. Russian doctors who treated Navalny denied that the Kremlin critic had been poisoned and blamed his comatose condition on low blood sugar.
In September, the German government said the 44-year-old Russian dissident had been poisoned by a chemical nerve agent, describing the toxicology report as “unequivocal evidence”. The nerve agent was in the Novichok family, which was developed by the Soviet Union.
Following the test results, the White House said it was concerned about the matter and denounced the poisoning.
“The United States is deeply concerned about the results announced today,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Ullyot said in a statement at the time. “The poisoning of Alexei Navalny is utterly reprehensible. Russia has used the chemical nerve agent Novichok in the past,” he said, referring to the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the UK in 2018.
The Kremlin has repeatedly denied having any role in the Skirpal and Navalny incidents.
“And I continue to notice how concerned and perhaps even scared the Russian government appears to be one man, Mr. Navalny,” Blinken said Wednesday.
The top US diplomat also noted that the Biden administration is reviewing the hack on SolarWinds, reports of bounties placed by Russia on US troops in Afghanistan, and potential election interference.