A participant holds a poster with the caption “One for all, all for one” during a rally in support of imprisonment, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, in Moscow, Russia, January 23, 2021.
Maxim Shemetov | Reuters
During his first news conference since he was confirmed as secretary of state, Antony Blinken expressed “deep concern” about the treatment of Alexei Navalny and the broader human rights situation in Russia.
Last week, Navalny, a critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, flew from Berlin to Russia, where he has been recovering for almost half a year since he was allegedly poisoned last summer. He was detained on arrival in Moscow.
“Across the board, as the President has said, we are going after all these actions that are of serious concern to us, whether it be the treatment of Mr. Navalny is and especially the apparent use of a chemical weapon in an attempt to kill him. ” Blinken said.
Last year, Navalny was medically evacuated from a Russian hospital to Germany after falling ill following reports that something had been added to his tea. Russian doctors who treated Navalny denied that the critic was poisoned in the Kremlin and blamed the low blood glucose level in his comatose state.
In September, the German government said the 44-year-old Russian dissident had been poisoned by a chemical nerve agent, describing the toxicological report as ‘unequivocal evidence’. The nerve agent was in the family of Novichok, developed by the Soviet Union.
On the heels of the test results, the White House said it was concerned about the case and had exposed the poisoning.
“The United States is deeply concerned about the results released today,” John Ullyot, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said in a statement at the time. “The poisoning of Alexei Navalny is completely 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 playing a role in the Skirpal and Navalny incidents.
‘And it remains striking to me, how concerned and perhaps even frightened, the Russian government seems to be of one man, Mr. Navalny, ‘Blinken said on Wednesday.
The top U.S. diplomat also noted that Biden’s government is reviewing the hack on SolarWinds, reports of Russia’s plight on U.S. forces in Afghanistan, and possible interference in the election.