NATO Calls on Russia to Cooperate on Probe into Navalny Case

World

September 4th, 10:24am

Asharq Al-Awsat

Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. (Reuters)

NATO allies agreed on Friday that Russia must cooperate fully with an impartial investigation to be led by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons into the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the alliance's chief said. "Any use of chemical weapons shows a total disrespect for human lives, and is an unacceptable breach of international norms and rules," Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference. "NATO allies agree that Russia now has serious questions, it must answer, the Russian government must fully cooperate with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons on an impartial international investigation," he said, Reuters reported. Earlier, British and German ministers said they agreed to work together to hold Russia accountable in the case of Navalny. "The Foreign Secretary and Maas agreed that any use of Novichok was a violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, and therefore a matter of international concern," a foreign office spokesperson said on Friday. for its part, Russia said on Thursday the West should not rush to judge it over the poisoning of Navalny and that there were no grounds to accuse it of the crime. Navalny, 44, is an outspoken opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin and has specialized in high-impact investigations into official corruption. He was airlifted to Germany last month after collapsing on a domestic Russian flight after drinking a cup of tea that his allies said was poisoned.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2488051/nato-calls-russia-cooperate-probe-navalny-case