French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejournay said on Monday that he had summoned the Russian ambassador to France following the death in prison of opponent Alexei Navalny, AFP and Agerpres reported.

Alexei NavalnyPhoto: Pavlo Golovkin / AP – The Associated Press / Profimedia

“We have asked to summon the Russian ambassador today at 18:30” (Paris time, 17:30 GMT), he said during a visit to Argentina, assessing that “Vladimir Putin’s regime has once again shown its true essence.”

A diplomatic source told AFP that the Russian ambassador was received at the appointed time.

Madrid, Stockholm, Berlin, The Hague and Oslo also announced on Monday that they had summoned the Russian ambassador to their country.

Navalny, 47, was pronounced dead Friday in a remote Arctic prison where he was serving a 19-year sentence after a 2020 poisoning he blamed on the Kremlin. Navalny died after three years in prison.

Western countries unanimously blamed the Russian authorities, which they consider responsible for this death.

The head of French diplomacy will visit Argentina on Monday and Tuesday for his first trip to Latin America. During lunch, he met with the president of Argentina, the ultra-liberal Javier Millais, and then with his colleague Diana Mondino.