US ‘not disputing’ European assessment of Navalny poisoning, Rubio says

The secretary of state says Washington will not fight European partners on their findings as the UK considers new sanctions.Published On 15 Feb 2026The United States says it is not disputing European findings that Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny was poisoned with a rare frog toxin as the United Kingdom signals possible new sanctions against Moscow.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking during a visit to Slovakia on Sunday, called the European report “very troubling” and “very serious”.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Exiled Russian accused of spying on opposition, including Navalny movementlist 2 of 4Russia’s Alexey Navalny killed by dart frog poison, European nations allegelist 3 of 4What is the ‘dart frog’ toxin, said to be linked to Alexey Navalny’s death?list 4 of 4Europeans say Russia poisoned dissident Alexey Navalny with dart frog toxinend of listThe UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden on Saturday accused the Russian state of killing Navalny two years ago in a Siberian penal colony.In a joint statement, the five countries said laboratory analysis of samples from his body found epibatidine, a toxin associated with South American dart frogs, and argued there was no innocent explanation for its presence.The announcement, made almost exactly two years after Navalny’s death in February 2024, increases pressure on the Kremlin and raises the prospect of further coordinated Western action.While Washington did not join the European statement, Rubio said the decision did not signal its disagreement.“We don’t have any reason to question it,” Rubio said, adding that the US was not seeking “a fight” with its European partners over the findings.UK threatens further sanctionsThe UK warned that it was considering imposing further sanctions on Moscow.Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told the BBC that the government would “continue to look at coordinated action, including increasing sanctions on the Russian regime”.“We believe that it is the partnerships that we build abroad that make us stronger at home. It is by acting alongside our European allies, alongside allies across the world, that we do maintain that pressure on the Russian regime,” she said.