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The Kremlin on Monday condemned the “vain” attempts to accuse Russia of poisoning the most prominent Kremlin opponent, Alexei Navalny, who is in a coma in a German hospital, while Europe studies the possibility of imposing sanctions.
Navalny, 45, a corruption activist and staunch opponent of the Russian president, fell ill while flying in Siberia last month and initially underwent treatment at a hospital in Siberia before being transferred to Berlin.
Last week, the German government announced that there was “conclusive evidence” that Navalny had been poisoned by Russia with a toxic nerve agent from the “Novichok” group, which was developed in the Soviet era for military purposes.
It is the same substance that was used in the attack on former agent Sergey Skripal, who had a similar incident in the English city of Salisbury in 2018.
Navalny’s aides said the use of Novichok proved that Russian security services were solely responsible for the attack, but the Kremlin vehemently denied it.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday: “All attempts to link Russia, in any way, with what happened (with Navalny) are unacceptable in our opinion.”
He stressed that these attempts were “absurd”.
Russian officials accused Germany of delaying publishing the results of its investigations, despite a request from the Russian Public Ministry.
Russia, for its part, accused Berlin of “delaying the investigation process it is demanding” by failing to forward the documents in the file to the Russian authorities.
According to Peskov, Moscow has not yet received these items, but is waiting for Germany to provide the necessary information to Russia “in the coming days.”
“We are waiting for it,” he added.
The German-Russian confrontation over Navalny intensified on Sunday after Berlin issued an ultimatum to Moscow to impose sanctions if the latter “in the next few days” did not provide clarification on the issue of his poisoning.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said: “Setting deadlines is something that does not help anyone, but if the Russian side does not contribute in the next few days to clarify what happened, we will have to discuss a response with our partners.”
He added that if sanctions are to be imposed, they must be “specific” targets.
He also stressed that “any prior exclusion” of the possible repercussions of the Navalny case on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project between Russia and Europe “would be a mistake.”
-Nord Stream in Junction-
On Monday, a spokesperson for the German Chancellor announced that Angela Merkel also did not rule out repercussions on the “Nord Stream 2” gas pipeline project.
The “Nord Stream 2” project is a € 10 billion gas pipeline to be completed imminently under the Baltic Sea and is supposed to double Russian natural gas shipments to Germany, Europe’s largest economy.
Washington has repeatedly criticized European countries for their dependence on energy from Russia. For years, the United States has led an intense campaign to try to thwart the project.
Western leaders have expressed concern over what Navalny’s allies described as the first known use of chemical weapons against a prominent opponent on Russian soil.
“It is very difficult” to think of another “reasonable” explanation, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told Sky News on Sunday, adding: “It is clear that Novichok has been used.”
Navalny’s poisoning was the latest in a long line of assassination attempts on Kremlin opponents.
Moscow is subject to extensive Western sanctions imposed due to its annexation of Crimea in 2014, as well as the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic in addition to low oil prices, and is keen to avoid any further pressure on its economy.
Navalny fell ill after boarding a plane in Siberia last month, when people close to him indicated that they suspected he had consumed a cup of tea containing a toxin at the airport.
He was initially treated at a hospital in Siberia, where doctors said they found no toxic substances in his blood, before being transferred to Berlin on August 22.
The lawyer, who was trained at Yale University in the United States, in the intensive care unit, is still on a ventilator.
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