US, EU warn Russia over Putin critic Navalny's health

WASHINGTON • The United States has warned Russia of "consequences" if jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny dies, deepening the conflict over the dissident who has survived an alleged assassination attempt and is now in the third week of a hunger strike.

Navalny's supporters on Sunday called for demonstrations across Russia tomorrow to coincide with President Vladimir Putin's state-of-the-nation address.

Mr Putin's most outspoken critic has been imprisoned since March 11 at the notorious IK-2 prison camp about 100 kilometres from Moscow for breaking parole rules.

He had gone to Germany to recover from a near-fatal chemical poisoning in Siberia that he and Western governments blamed on the Kremlin. The Russian authorities deny any involvement.

"We have communicated to the Russian government... they will be held accountable by the international community," US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday. "We are looking at a variety of different costs that we would impose, and I'm not going to telegraph that publicly at this point. But we have communicated that there will be consequences if Mr Navalny dies," Mr Sullivan said.

The European Union's top diplomat said yesterday that Russia must allow Navalny, who his allies say is in a critical health condition in prison, to have access to proper medical care, as EU foreign ministers pressed for his release.

Navalny, 44, announced his hunger strike at the end of March in protest at what he said was the refusal of the prison authorities to treat him properly for acute back and leg pain. "We make the Russian authorities responsible for the health situation of Mr Navalny," Mr Josep Borrell said before a video conference of the EU's 27 foreign ministers, who on Sunday released a joint statement warning of the risks to Navalny's life.

Leading EU lawmakers also spoke out. "Act now, or the blood of Mr Navalny will forever be on your hands," said Mr Manfred Weber, who lead's the European Parliament's biggest grouping, the European People's Party.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said the EU, which has already imposed sanctions on Russians it deems responsible for Navalny's poisoning, said the EU should be ready with a special medical team.

Separately, Mr Ned Price, spokesman for the US State Department, called in a tweet for the Russian authorities to immediately provide Navalny with access to the "necessary medical care", while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for the prisoner's "immediate and unconditional release".

Navalny spokesman Kira Yarmysh said on Saturday that he might die in a "matter of days".

His doctor, Dr Anastasia Vasilieva, posted a copy of his blood-test results showing what she said were "critical" levels of potassium. "This signifies kidney failure, which can lead at any time to a severe disruption to his heartbeat", including the possibility of heart failure, she said on Twitter.

Navalny's wife Yulia said after visiting him in prison that he was having difficulty speaking and had lost more weight.

In a post on his Instagram account last Friday, Navalny's allies reported that a prison official had warned him that a blood test indicated a "serious deterioration" in his health and that he would be force-fed if he did not end the protest.

US President Joe Biden on Thursday ordered a raft of new sanctions against Russia, including restrictions on buying new sovereign debt, in response to allegations that Moscow was behind a hack on SolarWinds Corp and interfered with last year's US election.

Yet the moves were calibrated to punish the Kremlin for past behaviour while keeping relations from deteriorating further, especially as tensions grow over a Russian military build-up near Ukraine.

Mr Biden has offered to meet Mr Putin later this year, an invitation Russia said it responded to "positively". Mr Biden was asked about Navalny's condition on Saturday. "It's totally, totally unfair," he told reporters in brief remarks.

BLOOMBERG, REUTERS