[ad_1]
The German government announced that it had come up with what it described as definitive proof of the presence of traces of nerve chemical gas from the “Novichok” group in the body of Russian opponent Alexei Navalny, who is currently receiving treatment in a Berlin hospital.
A government spokesman said tests carried out in a private German army laboratory had shown this and that Chancellor Angela Merkel had been informed of the results of the tests.
The spokesperson considered it shocking that Navalny became the victim of a nerve gas chemical attack in Russia, and called again on Russian authorities to investigate the incident.
For her part, the German Chancellor considered that only Russia “can and should” answer the “questions” raised about the Navalny poisoning.
Merkel told reporters that the Russian dissident who was hospitalized in Berlin was a “victim of a crime” aimed at “silencing him.”
Russian dissident Alexei Navalny (Reuters)He added that “serious questions are now being raised and only the Russian government can and should” answer them.
Novichok is a group of nerve agents developed by the Soviet Army in the 1970s and 1980s.
Perfect cooperation
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied that Berlin had informed Moscow of the German side’s conclusion on the Navalny poisoning, and said Russia was ready for “full cooperation” with Germany.
The White House has expressed “grave concern” over Germany’s claim that Navalny was poisoned with a nerve agent. “The poisoning of Alexei Navalny is completely reprehensible,” wrote National Security Council spokesman John Oliot in a tweet.
“We will work with allies and the international community to hold people in Russia accountable, wherever evidence takes, and cut off funds for their malicious activities,” he added.
“I would like to denounce in the strongest terms the shocking and irresponsible use of such a substance,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in a statement.
He said there are “urgent questions … it is the responsibility of the Russian authorities to answer them”, adding that “France is in close contact with the German authorities as well as with our partners to coordinate the proper response.”
[ad_2]
