Support The Moscow Times!

France Rejected Russia’s Request for Navalny Lab Results, Putin Tells Closed Meeting

The Kremlin has repeatedly demanded evidence from Europe proving that Navalny was poisoned with Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok. Markus Schreiber / AP / TASS

France allegedly rejected Russia’s offer to examine its scientists’ findings that opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned, President Vladimir Putin was reported to have said at a closed meeting Wednesday.

Putin told chief editors of Russian news outlets that he had promised French President Emmanuel Macron that Moscow would “immediately” open a criminal investigation “at the slightest evidence” of poisoning. European scientists concluded that Navalny received a near-deadly dose of Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok during his August 2020 trip to Siberia.

Alexei Venediktov, the chief editor of the liberal Ekho Moskvy radio station who said he attended Wednesday’s closed meeting, relayed Putin’s frustration with Macron rejecting his request to share a French lab’s findings on the Navalny poisoning.

Putin allegedly said that Macron also rejected his proposal that Russian medical experts visit the French lab or that French experts visit Russia, Venediktov said.

“If we had found what we hadn’t seen, even the slightest evidence [of Navalny’s poisoning], then we would immediately open a criminal investigation,” Venediktov recounted Putin as saying.

The editor noted in a social media post that Putin personally gave him clearance to share these remarks with the wider public.

French media previously reported that Putin allegedly told Macron in a September 2020 phone call that Navalny — whom the Russian president accused of “simulating illnesses in the past” — may have poisoned himself.

Macron publicly demanded Russia to explain Navalny’s poisoning and said the use of chemical weapons breaches a “red line.”

The European Union is weighing imposing “concrete” sanctions on Russia at its foreign ministers’ Feb. 22 meeting following the top EU diplomat’s chastening Moscow visit last week.

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter

Our weekly newsletter contains a hand-picked selection of news, features, analysiss and more from The Moscow Times. You will receive it in your mailbox every Friday. Never miss the latest news from Russia. Preview
Subscribers agree to the Privacy Policy

A Message from The Moscow Times:

Dear readers,

We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."

These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.

By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.

Once
Monthly
Annual
Continue
paiment methods
Not ready to support today?
Remind me later.

Read more