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US President Donald Trump has rejected to condemn Russia after the poisoning of opposition leader and Putin critic, Alexei Navalny. He made the remarks during a press conference and said, “We haven’t had any proof yet. While the incident was tragic, so the press should focus on China over Russia. President Trump said, “So, I don’t know exactly what happened. I think that it is tragic. It is terrible. It should not happen. We have not had any proof yet, but we will take a look. I would be very angry if that is the case”. He didn’t criticize Russian leader Vladimir Putin and redirected attention to China. Trump said, “It is interesting that everybody is always mentioning Russia”.

President Trump added, “I don’t mind you mentioning them, but China at this point is probably a nation that you should be talking about much more so than Russia because the things that China is doing are far worse”. Point to be noted that an anti-corruption activist, Navalny fell ill on a flight to Moscow on 20 August and was taken to a hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk after the plane made an emergency landing. The 44-year-old was moved two days later to Berlin’s Charite hospital, where doctors said initial tests indicated Navalny had been poisoned. The German government said the Kremlin critic was poisoned with the same type of Soviet-era nerve agent used in a 2018 attack on a former Russian spy.

The German government said that testing by a German military laboratory showed proof without a doubt of a chemical nerve agent from the Novichok group. British authorities have identified Novichok as the poison used on former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in England two years ago. The news provoked outrage from Western leaders who demanded Moscow to provide an explanation. German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Navalny’s poisoning attempted murder, meant to silence one of Putin’s fiercest critics. The Berlin hospital treating the patient said he remains on a ventilator though his condition is improving. Russian Foreign Ministry said it had noticed multiple hostile statements directed at Russia on the topic of Navalny’s health.