17.02.2026 (12:01 PM) Htate

The United States has said it will not dispute a European investigation into the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, while Britain has hinted at new sanctions against the Russian government.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during a visit to Slovakia on February 15 that the European report was “very concerning and very serious”.

Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden on February 14 accused the Russian government of being responsible for Navalny’s death in a Siberian prison camp two years ago.

A joint statement from the five countries said that laboratory tests on samples from Navalny’s body found epibatidine, a toxin derived from South American poison frogs.

The announcement, two years after Navalny’s death in February 2024, increases pressure on the Russian government and raises the possibility that the West will take further action.

The US government did not join the joint statement by the European countries, Rubio said, but the decision did not mean that it disagreed.

“We have no reason to doubt the findings,” Rubio said.

He added that the US did not want to cause a conflict with its European partners over the findings.

Britain has also warned that it is considering imposing further sanctions on Russia.

The UK will continue to explore ways to cooperate, including increasing sanctions on Russia, Foreign Minister Ivan Kuper said.

“The partnerships we have built with foreign countries are what make our country stronger. Only by working together with our European allies and with our allies around the world can we continue to keep the pressure on the Russian government,” he said.

Navalny’s wife, Yulia Navalny, said that there is now scientific evidence that her husband, a Russian opposition figure, was assassinated.

“Two years ago, I stood on this very stage and said that Vladimir Putin killed my husband,” Navalny told the conference.