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“We urge our partners to avoid politicizing any incident and to rely solely on credible facts, which I hope will be provided as soon as possible,” said the statement released Wednesday night.
In it, the embassy also asks the government to provide “as soon as possible a response” to last week’s request for legal assistance, which requests information on the results of the German investigation. “We look forward to full cooperation and exchange of information through existing bilateral legal mechanisms,” the statement said.
Earlier, a special Bundeswehr laboratory discovered that Kremlin critic A. Navaln had been poisoned by the combat material that paralyzes Novičiok’s nerves. The German government speculates that an attempt was made to kill him. The Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian ambassador Sergei Nechayev to urge Russia to investigate “completely and transparently” the poisoning. The embassy said Nechayev had not received any “factual documents” so far.
Berlin will discuss the response with partners
Navalnas, 44, one of President Vladimir Putin’s most staunch critics, felt ill on August 20 on a plane flying from Tomsk to Moscow and was taken to Omsk Hospital.
Later he was transferred to the Charite clinic in Berlin. Last week, doctors at the hospital said that Mr. Navaln was probably poisoned with cholinesterase inhibitors, but said they did not know exactly what the substance was.
In 2018, former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned in the UK by the nerve paralyzing substance Novičiok, developed in the Soviet Union. This substance belongs to the cholinesterase inhibitors.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas announced that a Russian ambassador had been summoned to the ministry on Wednesday. It was “clearly” conveyed by Germany’s call for a “full and transparent” investigation into the Navaln poisoning case.
“We know it was an attack by a nerve paralyzing substance,” Maas said. – This makes it even more urgent to determine who [už tai] is responsible in Russia and force them to respond. “
Seibert said the German government would inform other European Union and NATO partners of the findings. Berlin will discuss with its partners an “appropriate joint response” to Russia, he said.
Germany will also contact the Organization for the Insurance of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), he said.
“Russia itself should have a serious interest in maintaining good relations with its neighbors in Europe,” Maas said. “Now is definitely the time to make a decisive contribution.”
Navaln’s condition “continues to improve”
Shortly after the government announcement, the Charite Clinic announced that Navaln was still being treated in an intensive care unit connected to an artificial lung ventilator, but that his condition “continued to improve.”
“Recovery is likely to take a long time,” the report said. “It is too early to assess the long-term consequences of this serious poisoning.”
Navalno’s colleagues in Russia claim that he was intentionally poisoned by the Russian authorities. The Kremlin rejects such accusations.
In Siberia, Russian doctors treating A. Navalna repeatedly challenged the findings of a German hospital and rejected the diagnosis of poisoning. They said their tests did not show any trace of poison on Navaln’s body.
Ivan Zhdanov, director of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), founded by A. Navaln, said after the German government’s statement on Twitter that the findings about the use of Novičik showed that only the Russian state could be responsible for the poisoning.
The “Novičiokas” can only be used by the state (GRU, FSB). “There is no reasonable doubt about that,” he wrote, referring to the Military Intelligence Service (GRU) and the Federal Security Service (FSB).
“Poisoning Navalna” Novičioku “in 2020 is exactly the same as leaving an autograph at the crime scene, [tokį] like this one, ”wrote Leonid Volkov, former colleague and chief of staff of A. Navaln, in a tweet, to which he also added a photo of Vladimir Putin and a signature alongside.
Russia is willing to cooperate, but awaits answers
The Russian Foreign Ministry, for its part, has stated that it is still awaiting a response from Berlin to a request from the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office regarding the situation with A. Navaln.
Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Putin, later said his country was willing to fully cooperate with Germany to clarify the situation, but also noted that Berlin had not provided Moscow with answers to its official questions.
“In general, we confirm that we are ready and willing to communicate and exchange data with Germany on this issue,” Peskov told Interfax on Wednesday.
However, when asked by the agency how the Kremlin would react to a statement from Berlin regarding the detection of traces of toxic material from the Novičiok group on Navaln’s body, a Kremlin spokesperson said: “We cannot competently respond to these statements. at this time”.
“The General Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation sent a formal request to the German side in the hope that a formal response would be given. Our doctors also officially offered to exchange data and, sadly, they have not yet received a response from their colleagues. from Germany, “Peskov said.
He stressed that “before the patient was transferred to Berlin, in accordance with all international standards, a complete set of tests was carried out in our country, no toxic substances were found.”
Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, called for the Navaln situation not to be politicized.
“Similar things – everything related to diagnoses, guesses about the state of health, specific and clear wording related to the diagnosis – are the province of doctors. As soon as politicians start to take on the role of medical institutions and doctors , we can immediately talk about absolute filth, “Zakharova said on the air of Rossiya TV on Wednesday.
“What does this have to do with politicians, what have the German Foreign Ministry, the German leaders done here?” He asked.
“We need formulas, we need statements from medical institutions, we need documentary material to be provided in response to an official request from the Russian representatives,” said the diplomat.
“Write your data on paper and transmit it to Russia. Our embassy is open 24 hours a day and is waiting for this material. Everything else is simply called: an information campaign. We have already heard all this,” added the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In his opinion, “Berlin’s reputation is now largely at stake, because you can’t do things like that anyway.”
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