Who cares about him, if we wanted, we would have made it done: Putin on Navalny poisoning

Russian President Vladimir Putin while addressing the year-end annual press conference said that opposition leader Navalny's poisoning investigation is "just the legalization of materials provided by US special services."

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"Don't we know that they track location. Our special services understand and know it well. Our servicemen from FSB and other special agencies know it as well and use cell phones where they think it's not necessary to hide their location," the Russian President told media persons.

"If this is right, and I assure you that this is right, it means that this German hospital's patient relies on the support of US special services."

Navalny had fallen gravely ill during a flight from Tomsk to Moscow and had to be taken to hospital in Siberia where doctors treated him for possible poisoning. The Russian opposition leader was later shifted to a German hospital which concluded that Russians had used the Soviet-era Novichok nerve agent to kill him.

"If this is right, (that Navalny is supported by US special services) then it's interesting and special services have to look after him. But it doesn't mean that it's necessary to poison him, who cares about him? If we wanted, we would have made it done. His wife asked me and I immediately ordered to let him go for treatment to Germany," Putin said.

Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov had earlier denied that Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) had followed and poisoned Navalny.

The European Union(EU) had imposed entry bans and frozen the bank accounts of six Russians suspected of positing Navalny,44, including FSB chief Alexander Bortnikov.

Navalny had earlier urged the EU to put target economic sanctions on the oligarchs surrounding Putin. "The Russian state must be treated like a bunch of criminals who have temporarily seized power," Navalny said as he urged Europe to support the Russian people.