Berlin gives Moscow a few days to clarify the circumstances of the Navalny poisoning and the threats of sanctions.

Berlin: Berlin, which currently holds the presidency of the European Union, will begin discussions on possible sanctions against Russia if Russia does not provide “in the next few days” clarifications on the issue of poisoning the opposition Alexei Navalny, the German Chancellor announced on Sunday.

Russian opposition leader Navalny fell ill during a flight last month and underwent treatment at a hospital in Siberia before being evacuated to Berlin.

And Germany spoke last week of “conclusive evidence” indicating that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent opponent had been poisoned with “Novichok” nerve gas.

“In the coming days, if the Russian side does not contribute to clarifying what happened, we will have to discuss the response with our partners,” German Chancellor Heiko Maas told the daily Bild, noting that if sanctions are to be imposed, they must be “specific” . Goals.

Western leaders and many Russians expressed grave concern over what Navalny’s allies described as the first known use of chemical weapons against a prominent opponent on Russian soil.

The Kremlin denied responsibility for the attack, while Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Germany had not yet shared the information it had reached with Moscow authorities.

And Maas said on Sunday there are “several indications” that Russia is behind the poisoning process, in the harshest accusations in Berlin yet.

“In the past, the lethal substance with which Navalny was poisoned was found in the hands of the Russian authorities,” he stressed. Only a few people have access to Novichok and this poison was used by Russia’s secret services in the attack on former agent Sergei Skripal ”, who had a similar incident in the English city of Salisbury in 2018.

Regarding the issue of sanctions to be discussed with the European Union, Maas did not rule out taking measures related to the “Nord Stream 2” gas pipeline project.

The controversial project, which costs 10 billion euros ($ 11 billion), is supposed to deliver Russian gas to Europe, but has received strong criticism from the United States.

“I hope the Russians will not force us to change our position on Nord Stream,” Maas said, stressing, however, that the consequences of any potential project cancellation must be considered and that the sanctions debate should not focus on a single point. (AFP)