US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday said that there was “substantial chances” that a senior official in Kremlin ordered opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s poisoning. 

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“I think people all around the world see this kind of activity for what it is,” Pompeo said in a radio interview.

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“And when they see the effort to poison a dissident, and they recognize that there is a substantial chance that this actually came from senior Russian officials, I think this is not good for the Russian people,” he told conservative host Ben Shapiro.

Navalny has been the most visible critic within Russia of President Vladimir Putin and mysteriously got critically ill while taking a flight in Siberia. 

Later, he was flown for treatment to Germany, where doctors said he was poisoned. 

Pompeo regurgitated that the United States and its European allies all wanted Russia to “hold those responsible for this accountable” and said Washington would also try to identify the perpetrators. 

“It’s something that we’ll take a look at, we’ll evaluate, and we’ll make sure we do our part to do whatever we can to reduce the risk that things like this happen again.”

These remarks by the US Secretary of State come despite Trump’s comment last week that he had seen no proof that Navalny was poisoned. 

Trump has sought warmer relations with Putin, although his administration has still pushed sanctions over Ukraine and other concerns.

(Inputs from AFP)