How the fallout from the Alexei Navalny poisoning has the Kremlin lost for words

Moscow’s newfound circumspection appears to be a reflection of the delicate situation it now finds itself in, writes Oliver Carroll

Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny recuperates at Berlin’s Charite hospital (Reuters)

At his daily press briefing on Tuesday, the Kremlin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov was invited to call out the UK’s apparent hypocrisy of breaking international law while criticising Russia for doing the same thing with Alexei Navalny. 

But Mr Peskov wasn’t in the mood to bite. “Russia does not get involved in the internal affairs of Great Britain,” he said, before abruptly moving on to the next question.

The Kremlin’s unusual reluctance to respond with stock Whataboutisms – “double standards”, “baseless accusations”, “Russophobia” – appeared to be a reflection of the delicate international situation it now finds itself in.