Putin held talks with Merkel and Macron. They asked to “preserve Navalny’s health”

Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks via videoconference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron. The Kremlin reports.

Macron's press service reported that the leaders of Germany and France drew Putin's attention to the need to respect the rights and "preserve the health" of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. They were given "relevant explanations of the objective circumstances of the case" of Navalny, according to the Kremlin's website.

Putin, Merkel and Macron also discussed the prospects for registration in the European Union of the Russian vaccine against coronavirus Sputnik V, possible supplies and joint production of this drug in the EU countries.

In addition, the leaders of the three countries talked about the situation in Ukraine, Belarus, Libya and Syria. “In general, the talks were held in a businesslike and frank atmosphere, it was agreed to continue joint work on the entire current agenda,” the Kremlin said in a statement.

• In February, Aleksei Navalny had his suspended sentence replaced with a real one in the Yves Rocher case. The politician is in colony No. 2 in the Vladimir region. Last week, he complained of pain in his back and leg, lack of medical care and "torture with insomnia." The Federal Penitentiary Service called Navalny's condition satisfactory.
• On March 4, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) began an examination of the Sputnik V vaccine for use in the EU. On March 24, Germany called for the start of negotiations on the purchase of Sputnik V without waiting for EMA approval. But there is no consensus in the EU on the advisability of using the Russian vaccine. Putin said that Russia "does not impose" Sputnik V on the European Union.