United States condemned Russia for failing to investigate attempted assassination of opposition Navalny and approved new sanctions

The United States on Friday urged Russia to “dismantle” its chemical weapons program and condemned that Moscow did not “investigate” the assassination attempt of Russian opponent Alexei Navalny with a nerve agent just over a year ago. Besides, imposed sanctions against nine Russian citizens and two scientific laboratories under the Russian Ministry of Defense for their alleged involvement.

In a statement signed jointly with the United Kingdom, the United States Department of State reaffirmed his “condemnation of the attempted assassination of Navalny” and regretted that Moscow “Did not credibly investigate or explain the use of a chemical weapon” against the Russian opponent.

“We urge Russia to fully comply with the Chemical Weapons Convention, including its obligations to declare and dismantle its chemical weapons program,” he noticed the note.

Washington and London they insisted on their “interest in stable and predictable relations with Russia” on “the basis of the implementation of its international commitments”.

The United States imposed sanctions against several Russian officials accused of being involved in the attempted assassination of Navalny.

The poisoning and imprisonment of this opposition leader was one of the topics the meeting focused on Geneva (Switzerland) in June between US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Navalny almost died in August 2020 after being poisoned during a trip to Siberia and accused Putin of ordering the Federal Security Service (FSB, former KGB) to kill him. His health has deteriorated since he was admitted to a prison in March, famous for numerous reports of abuse and torture.

Now, The United States has imposed sanctions on nine Russian citizens and two science laboratories under the Russian Ministry of Defense.

“Our actions today send a clear sign that there will be no impunity for the use of chemical weapons, as it is unacceptable and violates international standards ”, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement announcing the decision.

“The poisoning of Navalny it was a scandalous violation of international standards against the use of chemical weapons and part of an ongoing campaign to silence dissenting voices in RussiaUS Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control director Andrea Gacki said in a statement.

Washington sanctioned laboratories are the Forensic Institute of the Federal Security Service (FSB, formerly KGB) and the National Institute of Military Experimental Medicine.

Among those sanctioned are Kirill Vasilyev, director of the institute, and Vladimir Bogdanov, head of the agency’s special technology center; as well as several FSB officials who, according to Washington, were directly involved in the attempted assassination of the Russian opponent.

As a consequence, The assets that these persons and entities may have under US jurisdiction are frozen and financial transactions with US financial institutions are prohibited.

This is the third round of sanctions applied by Washington against Moscow for the Navalny affair.

(With information from EFE)

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