Merkel and Macron ask Putin to protect Navalny

Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks via video link with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron. During the conversation, the leaders of Germany and France called on Vladimir Putin to respect the rights of his political opponent, opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and keep him healthy. This was reported by the press service of the Elysee Palace.

"In connection with the question raised by the partners about A. Navalny, appropriate explanations were given to the objective circumstances of the case," the Kremlin said in a statement. The details of the conversation about politics are not given.

In January, Alexei Navalny returned to Russia from Germany after being treated for poisoning with a chemical agent from the Novichok group. The politician and his supporters are sure that he was assassinated by the Russian authorities. In February, the court replaced Navalny's suspended sentence with a real one in the Yves Rocher case. The politician is in colony No. 2 in the Vladimir region. Last week he complained of back and leg pain, lack of medical attention and "torture with insomnia." The FSIN called Navalny's condition satisfactory. And the deputy chairman of the Public Monitoring Commission of the Vladimir Region, Vladimir Grigoryan, said that the oppositionist was simulating health problems.