Trump says he's not seen any proof of 'tragic' Alexei Navalny poisoning - before insisting people should be pointing the finger at China rather than Russia

Donald Trump said the United States must look 'very seriously' into the suspected poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, but that his administration had not yet seen any proof.

'It's tragic. It's terrible, it shouldn't happen. We haven't had any proof yet, but I will take a look,' Trump said at a news conference, before telling journalists they should be focusing on China, not Russia.

'It is interesting that everybody's always mentioning Russia … but I think probably China at this point is a nation that you should be talking about much more so than Russia.' 

Trump did not take as strong a stand as the State Department, which earlier on Friday expressed grave concern about the finding that Navalny was poisoned.

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Donald Trump said the United States must look 'very seriously' into the suspected poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, but that his administration had not yet seen any proof

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Navalny is the most popular and prominent opponent of President Vladimir Putin, and the German announcement this week that he was poisoned by a nerve agent has raised the possibility of further Western sanctions against Moscow. Alexei Navalny, pictured with his wife Yulia, has been a thorn in the Kremlin's side for years 

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Navalny being taken to an ambulance in Omsk (left) after falling ill on a plane following a trip to an airport cafe (right) where his friends suspect he could have been poisoned 

In a meeting in Washington earlier on Friday, Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun told Russian Ambassador Anatoliy Antonov that Moscow's use of this chemical weapon would be a clear violation of its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention.

'The Deputy Secretary urged Russia to cooperate fully with the international community´s investigation into this attack,' department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.

Germany, where Navalny is in a hospital, has said the Russian opposition figure was poisoned with a Soviet-style Novichok nerve agent and wants the perpetrators held to account. Russia has until now not opened a criminal investigation and said there is no evidence yet of a crime.

Angela Merkel confirms Alexei Navalny was poisoned with nerve agent

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Navalny's allies have pointed the finger at Russian president Vladimir Putin (pictured) after the opposition leader fell ill, but the Kremlin has dismissed the claims 

Navalny is the most popular and prominent opponent of President Vladimir Putin, and the German announcement this week that he was poisoned by a nerve agent has raised the possibility of further Western sanctions against Moscow. 

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said on Thursday that Navalny was the victim of a 'reprehensible' poisoning.

'Russia has used chemical nerve agents in the past,' she added, 'and we're working with our allies and the international community to hold those in Russia accountable wherever the evidence leads and restrict funds for their malign activities.'

Russian authorities have appeared reluctant to investigate what caused Navalny's condition, saying there had so far been no grounds for a criminal investigation.

Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev said a preliminary inquiry was ongoing, but added that he saw no signs of a crime in what happened to the most determined critic of president Vladimir Putin.

Putin's spokesman has brushed off allegations the Kremlin was involved in poisoning Mr Navalny and said Germany had not provided Moscow with any evidence about the politician's condition.

'We have nothing to hide,' Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday, asserting that German authorities had stonewalled Russian requests for information.

Lavrov said the failure to provide information about Mr Navalny's poisoning could indicate a lack of evidence.

'Our Western partners allow themselves to make arrogant demands in such a tone that suggests that they have nothing but pathos to put on the table,' he said.