France, Germany to propose Russian sanctions after poisoning

France and Germany will propose sanctions on individuals they deem responsible for the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, their governments said Wednesday, reiterating that they suspect a Kremlin involvement.

Proposals forwarded to European Union partners will also target an entity involved in the Novichok program, a joint statement from the French and German foreign ministries said. Navalny has been recovering in Berlin after falling ill from the nerve agent in Russia on Aug. 20, spending weeks in a coma.

The statement did not give specifics on the possible targets for sanctions.

Moscow has dismissed claims of its involvement as “baseless” and has declined to investigate the incident.

“A murder attempt has been made on Russian soil, against a Russian opposition figure, using a military-grade nerve agent developed by Russia,” the statement from France and Germany said.

“No credible explanation has been provided by Russia so far,” it continued. “In this context, we consider that there is no other plausible explanation for Mr. Navalny’s poisoning than a Russian involvement and responsibility.”

On Tuesday, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons confirmed findings of German, French and Swedish labs that Navalny had been poisoned by a nerve agent in the same family as Novichok, a chemical weapon developed by the Soviet Union.