U.S. 'deeply concerned' by Navalny sentence -Blinken

The United States is deeply concerned by a prison term meted out to Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny on Tuesday, and repeated its call for his immediate release, saying it would coordinate closely with allies about how to hold Russia accountable.

"The United States is deeply concerned by Russian authorities' decision to sentence opposition figure (Alexei) Navalny to two years and eight months imprisonment," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

"Even as we work with Russia to advance U.S. interests, we will coordinate closely with our allies and partners to hold Russia accountable for failing to uphold the rights of its citizens." (Reporting By Arshad Mohammed and Doina Chiacu Editing by Chris Reese)