Group of Seven foreign ministers demanded that Russia quickly find and prosecute the culprits behind the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

The top diplomats said that Germany, where Navalny is receiving treatment, briefed them with confirmation that Vladimir Putin’s leading critic was poisoned.

“We, the G7 foreign ministers, call on Russia to urgently and fully establish transparency on who is responsible for this abhorrent poisoning attack and, bearing in mind Russia"s commitments under the Chemical Weapons Convention, to bring the perpetrators to justice. We will continue to monitor closely how Russia responds to international calls for an explanation of the hideous poisoning of Mr Navalny. We remain strongly committed to our support for democracy, the rule of law and human rights in Russia and to bolster our support to the Russian civil society”, - reads a joint statement.