OREANDA-NEWS. During a press conference in Vilnius, French President Emmanuel Macron said that the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Aleksey Navalny with a banned chemical is not in doubt, and Russia is obliged to provide an explanation on this fact.

“This is very clearly a murder attempt carried out on Russian soil, against a Russian opposition leader with a chemical agent manipulated in Russia. It is therefore up to Russia to provide clarifications,” Macron said. According to the French leader, the international community must react to what happened, and its response will depend on whether Russia provides information that could help the investigation of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

On September 23, Macron already appealed to the Russian authorities in connection with the situation with Navalny and asked to clarify the situation with the “attempt to kill a political opponent.”

Germany, France, the United States and other Western countries believe that Navalny was poisoned by Novichok agent. This conclusion was made by specialists from Germany, after the politician was transported for treatment to a Berlin clinic on August 22. Later, the poisoning by Novichok was confirmed by independent laboratories from France and Sweden.