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Russian ambassador to UK summoned to Foreign Office over Navalny

Last week, the German government claimed that Navalny’s test samples indicated that the opposition figure had been affected by a toxic agent belonging to the Novichok family

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom N.M.Bear/Shutterstock/FOTODOM

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom

© N.M.Bear/Shutterstock/FOTODOM

LONDON, September 7./TASS/. Russian Ambassador to the UK Andrei Kelin was summoned on Monday to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office over the situation with Russian blogger Alexei Navalny, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a tweet.

"Today the UK summoned Russia’s Ambassador to the UK to register deep concern about the poisoning of Alexey Navalny," Raab said on Twitter. "It’s completely unacceptable that a banned chemical weapon has been used and Russia must hold a full, transparent investigation," he said.

"Relieved to hear that Alexei Navalny has been taken out of the medically induced coma. I hope his condition continues to improve," Dominic Raab added.

2/2 Relieved to hear that Alexei Navalny has been taken out of the medically induced coma. I hope his condition continues to improve
— Dominic Raab (@DominicRaab) September 7, 2020

The Russian Embassy has confirmed the summoning to TASS, but no details of the conversation are available as of yet.

Navalny’s poisoning saga

Last week, the German government claimed that having examined Navalny’s test samples the Bundeswehr’s toxicologists had come to the conclusion that the opposition figure had been affected by a toxic agent belonging to the Novichok family. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia remained ready for any comprehensive cooperation with Germany. He pointed out that no poisonous substances had been detected in Navalny’s system prior to his transfer to Berlin. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stressed that the German Foreign Office had not provided the Russian ambassador with any proof of its version of the incident.

Navalny was rushed to a local hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk on August 20 after becoming ill during his Tomsk-Moscow flight. He fell into a coma and was put on a ventilator in an intensive care unit. On August 22, he was airlifted to Berlin and admitted to the Charite hospital.

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