19:32     18 April 2021    

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny risks cardiac arrest at "any minute" as his health has rapidly deteriorated, doctors warned Saturday, urging immediate access to Russia's most famous prisoner.

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny risks cardiac arrest at "any minute" as his health has rapidly deteriorated, doctors warned Saturday, urging immediate access to Russia's most famous prisoner. On March 31, President Vladimir Putin's most prominent opponent went on hunger strike to demand proper medical treatment for back pain and numbness in his legs and hands. Navalny's personal doctor, Anastasia Vasilyeva, and three more doctors including cardiologist Yaroslav Ashikhmin have asked prison officials to grant them immediate access. "Our patient can die any minute," Ashikhmin said on Facebook on Saturday, pointing to the opposition politician's high potassium levels and saying Navalny should be moved to intensive care. "Fatal arrhythmia can develop any minute." US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan warned Sunday that “there will be consequences if jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny dies”. When asked what measures the US would undertake, Sullivan told CNN that “we are looking at a variety of different costs that we would impose, and I'm not going to telegraph that publicly at this point”. The warning comes a day after US President Joe Biden added his voice to a growing international chorus of protest at the treatment of the activist, describing his situation as "totally, totally unfair, totally inappropriate". The Russian ambassador in London told the BBC on Sunday that Navalny "will not be allowed to die in prison". German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that the EU foreign ministers will discuss Navalny’s situation at Monday’s Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels. Maas added that in the interim "we urgently demand that Alexei Navalny receive adequate medical treatment and access to doctors he trusts". French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Sunday that France is "extremely concerned" about the health of Navalny. "Navalny's situation is extremely concerning," Le Drian told France 3 television. "I hope that measures are taken to ensure Navalny's physical integrity, but also his freedom," he said, adding: "There is a major responsibility here for President Putin."