G7 foreign ministers observe a minute's silence for Navalny

MUNICH: G7 foreign ministers observed a minute's silence at the start of their meeting in Munich on Saturday to pay their respects to Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny who died in prison on Friday, the G7's Italian presidency said.

"For his ideas and for his battle for freedom and against corruption in Russia, Navalny was de facto led to death," Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said as he opened a gathering of the major democracies on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany.

"Russia must shed light on his death and stop its unacceptable repression of political dissent," Tajani said, according to his ministry.