BERLIN—Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny was poisoned with Novichok, a chemical nerve agent, the German authorities reported Wednesday, presenting the strongest proof however that the attack could have been carried out by Russian condition businesses.
Chancellor Angela Merkel known as on Moscow to make clear the revelation, which she explained as an attempted murder and a move to silence the leading critic of President Vladimir Putin.
Ms. Merkel reported Germany’s North Atlantic Treaty Group allies and the European Union had been educated of the findings to coordinate their response, suggesting that the West could possibly react with some kind of sanctions. The U.S. reported it was consulting with allies in excess of a feasible response.
“This is surprising info about an attempted murder by poisoning a single of the leading opposition figures in Russia,” Ms. Merkel advised reporters in Berlin.
The revelation—and any sanctions the West could possibly impose—could herald a new reduced in relations among Russia and the West, which have deteriorated constantly because Moscow’s 2014 invasion of Ukraine and its subsequent annexation of Crimea.
