https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54039710
5 September 2020
President Donald Trump has refused to condemn Russia over the poisoning of opposition figure Alexei Navalny, saying he has not seen proof.
He said the case was "tragic" but urged reporters to focus instead on China, which he said was a bigger threat to the world than Russia.
Nato and Germany say there is "proof beyond doubt" that Mr Navalny was attacked with a Novichok nerve agent.
His team says he was poisoned on the Kremlin's orders. Russia denies this.
Mr Navalny - an anti-corruption campaigner who has long been the most prominent face of opposition to President Vladimir Putin in Russia - is in a coma in a Berlin hospital having been airlifted there from Siberia, where he fell ill.
Speaking at a press event on Friday, he said he had yet to see evidence of poisoning in the case.
"So I don't know exactly what happened. I think it's tragic, it's terrible, it shouldn't happen. We haven't had any proof yet but I will take a look," he said.
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Tests at a military laboratory in Germany show "beyond doubt" the presence of a Novichok nerve agent, the German government and Nato say.
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A nerve agent from the Novichok group identified by Germany in the Navalny case was also used to poison ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury. They both survived but a local woman, Dawn Sturgess, died after coming into contact with the poison.
Britain accused Russia's military intelligence of carrying out that attack in Salisbury. As part of a co-ordinated response, 20 countries expelled more than 100 Russian diplomats and spies. Russia denied any involvement.
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A nerve agent from the Novichok group identified by Germany in the Navalny case was also used to poison ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury. They both survived but a local woman, Dawn Sturgess, died after coming into contact with the poison.
Britain accused Russia's military intelligence of carrying out that attack in Salisbury. As part of a co-ordinated response, 20 countries expelled more than 100 Russian diplomats and spies. Russia denied any involvement.
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