No reason yet to launch investigation into alleged Navalny poisoning – Putin’s spokesman

Any investigation into the circumstances of Alexey Navalny’s possible poisoning will come after the substance inside his body is properly identified, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov stated.

“We need a reason to investigate,” Peskov said, adding that they will launch a probe once they are sure about the circumstances of his hospitalization. However, he rejected accusations that Navalny’s quick onset of illness was caused by an assassination attempt, refusing to take the suggestion seriously.

“These are allegations that absolutely cannot be true and are simply empty noise,” he said.

Navalny, a well-known protest leader and anti-corruption campaigner, was taken ill on a Thursday flight from Tomsk to Moscow, which was forced to land in the Siberian city of Omsk. After being taken to hospital, Navalny’s associates asked that he be transferred for treatment in the European Union. Two days later, after being judged fit to fly, he landed in Germany. According to the doctors in Berlin’s Charité clinic, the campaigner was found with a cholinesterase inhibitor inside his system.

When commenting on the Berlin diagnosis, Peskov noted that the German medical analysis “is absolutely the same” as that in Russia, but “the conclusions differ.” Doctors from Omsk have denied the presence of the inhibitor.

On Monday, European Union Vice President Josep Borrell condemned the “attempt on Mr. Navalny’s life,” highlighting that the international community is “demanding the facts behind Mr. Navalny’s poisoning.”

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