At the Munich Security Conference this weekend, a storm of political debate and international outrage erupted over the confirmed poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, with the United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper, at the center of the response. Cooper declared, with unflinching certainty, that “only the Russian regime had both the motive, the means and also the opportunity” to use the “lethal poison” that killed Navalny in a Siberian penal colony back in 2024, according to BBC and The Guardian.
This revelation comes after European laboratories, working in concert across five countries, confirmed that Navalny was killed by a poison developed from a toxin found in Ecuadorian dart frogs—an obscure and highly lethal substance. Cooper told the BBC that the presence of this toxin is a “clear breach” of international chemical weapons rules, and she called for action, which could include continuing and increasing coordinated sanctions on Russia. “We do want to see action,” she insisted, emphasizing the need for accountability and international resolve.
Navalny, a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, died suddenly in his Siberian prison cell on February 16, 2024, where he was being held on what many, including Cooper, have called trumped-up charges. The circumstances of his death have long been shrouded in suspicion, with his widow, Yulia Navalnaya, steadfastly maintaining that her husband was “murdered” by poisoning—a claim now bolstered by the new forensic evidence. Samples from Navalny’s body, smuggled out of the prison, were tested by European labs, confirming the presence of the rare frog-derived toxin.
Speaking from a snow-laden rooftop in Munich, Cooper reflected on the broader significance of Navalny’s death and the ongoing threat posed by Russia. “We have been pursuing the truth on this since Alexei died in prison,” she said, vowing to continue Navalny’s work to “tell the truth, spread the truth” about the Russian regime. “He is no longer able to do that, but that is why we are continuing to do that for him, and for his widow as well.”
Cooper’s remarks were not made in isolation. She attended the conference alongside Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, both of whom have been urging European allies to prepare for further Russian aggression. Cooper stated, “Britain and its allies must be ready to face down Russian aggression, which includes the use of lethal toxins against their own citizens.” The UK, she noted, has been at the forefront of seeking justice for Navalny, pursuing the matter through diplomatic channels and now supporting the referral of the case to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
“A group of European ministers has now reported this to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons for them to pursue because we see this as a clear breach of the chemical weapons international rules and convention so we do want to see action there, holding some accountability,” Cooper explained to the BBC. She also made clear that the UK is considering additional coordinated actions, including ramping up sanctions against Russia. “We continue to look at co-ordinated action, including increasing sanctions on the Russian regime. As you know, we have been pursuing this as part of our response to the brutal invasion of Ukraine, where we are also coming up to the fourth anniversary of that invasion as well.”
The call for action was echoed by Conservative shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel, who, appearing on the same BBC program from Munich, argued that the government must “step up its own actions” against Russia. Patel criticized the effectiveness of current sanctions, claiming they are “being busted and circumvented.” She pressed for more direct measures, including targeting Russian businesses and cutting off financial flows that support the Russian economy. “We’ve really got to start taking direct action against these financial lifelines that basically are propping up Russia, the Russian state, and this awful permissive Russian activity that we’re seeing, including the state-sponsored murders and assassinations that the Russian state is so heavily involved in,” Patel said.
The Russian embassy in London, for its part, has vehemently denied any involvement in Navalny’s death, dismissing the findings as the “feeble-mindedness of Western fabulists” and accusing critics of engaging in “necro-propaganda.” In a statement, the embassy said, “There is no reason whatsoever to credit such 'findings' by Western 'experts'. As with the Skripal case, there are strident accusations, media hysteria, zero evidence, and a host of questions the accusers would rather ignore. So what was it in the end - poison derived from the skin of a South American frog or Novichok?” The embassy’s statement further accused Western politicians of exploiting Navalny’s death for their own ends, saying, “Even after the death of the Russian citizen, London and the European capitals cannot allow him to rest in peace - a fact that speaks volumes about those who instigated this campaign.”
Beyond the immediate diplomatic fallout, the Munich Security Conference also became a stage for heated domestic political debate within the UK. Cooper accused Reform UK and the Green party of undermining Britain’s commitment to NATO, as reported by The Guardian. Labour leader Keir Starmer, in a weekend speech, charged that both parties were “soft on Russia and weak on NATO.” Cooper pointed specifically to Reform UK’s refusal to investigate Russian interference within its own ranks, despite the conviction of their Welsh leader Nathan Gill for accepting bribes from a suspected Russian asset to promote pro-Kremlin positions.
“They have too often dismissed the aggression and the threat from Russia even at the point where we have seen lethal poisons being used again as it was in Salisbury,” Cooper said, referencing both the 2018 poisoning in Salisbury and the murder of Navalny. Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, has argued on BBC Radio 4’s Political Thinking podcast that the West “provoked” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine through EU and NATO expansion. Still, Farage has also called for Ukraine to join NATO and for increased UK defense spending.
The Green party’s leader, Zack Polanski, maintained a nuanced position, committing to NATO’s Article 5—which obligates members to collective defense—yet leaving open the possibility of leaving the alliance. He has advocated, though not as official party policy, for reducing spending on American weapons and dismantling the US-UK defense alliance.
As the UK and its allies grapple with the aftermath of Navalny’s murder and the broader challenge of Russian aggression, the debate over how to respond—both at home and abroad—remains fierce. With new evidence confirming the use of a rare frog-derived poison and calls for coordinated international action growing louder, the pressure is on for Britain and its partners to forge a united front. The memory of Alexei Navalny, and the cause for which he gave his life, continues to cast a long shadow over European politics and the global struggle for accountability and justice.