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– I hope that Russia will not force us to change our opinion on Nord Stream, says Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, writes The Guardian.
Maas is targeting the prestigious pipeline that will bring Russian natural gas to Germany and several other European countries.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas demands a response from Russia for the Navalny poisoning. He does not rule out stopping the agreement on the supply of Russian gas.
Photo: Stefanie Loos / AFP
The Russian regime critic Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a nerve agent, German evidence shows. His condition is still serious.
– Married used by the Russian security service
On Sunday, the German chancellor took a hard line against Russia in an interview with Bild am Sontag, of which The Guardian and AFP reproduce parts.
– The deadly poison with which Navalny was poisoned has previously been used by the Russian authorities, says Heiko Maas.
– Only a few people have access to novitsjok nerve gas. This was the poison that the Russian security service used when they poisoned former agent Sergei Skripal, Maas continues.
Germany holds the presidency of the EU this semester. Foreign Minister Maas says member states will discuss sanctions against Russia if authorities there do not provide a credible explanation within days.
Maas believes that a disruption to the future supply of Russian natural gas to Germany cannot be ruled out.
Former agent found unconscious
In 2018, Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious on a bank in Salisbury, UK.
British police are investigating the place where Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious in March 2018.
Photo: Peter Nicholls / Reuters
British authorities believe the two were poisoned with novitiate, a neurotoxin developed in the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War.
Britain has claimed that Russia is behind this, something that the Russian authorities have denied. The two survived, but were hospitalized for a long time.
Merkel: – Attempted assassination
On Wednesday, the German government said there was “unequivocal evidence” that Navalny was poisoned with the neurotoxin novitsjok.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel says Putin’s critic was subjected to an assassination attempt and that the goal was to silence him.
The leaders of Germany and Russia have a lot to talk about. Angela Merkel believes that opposition leader Navalny has been the victim of an assassination attempt. She demands a response from Putin. The photo was taken when Merkel visited Putin on January 11.
Photo: Sputnik / Reuters
Merkel says there are now very serious questions that only the Russian authorities can and should answer.
Navalny became seriously ill on a plane in Siberia almost two weeks ago. He was admitted to a hospital in Omsk, but then flew to Berlin. He remains in a coma in a city hospital.
The Berlin hospital declared on Wednesday that his condition is still serious, but that the symptoms of poisoning have decreased somewhat.
Navalny has been for many years one of the most prominent critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The EU and the UK also condemn the attack.
– Only the state can use Novitsjok
Navalny supporters have insisted that the opposition activist was poisoned, NTB writes. Supporter Leonid Volkov, who visited Navalny in hospital on Sunday, wrote the following on Twitter after the German statement:
– Poisoning Navalny with Novitsjok in 2020 is exactly the same as leaving an autograph on the scene.
German experts claim that Nevalny was poisoned by the Russian nerve gas Novitsjok. The photo is from August 22 when he was picked up in Omsk in Russia and taken to the hospital in Berlin.
Photo: Alexey Malgavko / Reuters
Ivan Zhdanov, one of Nevalny’s close associates, says that Germany’s conclusion shows that only Russia can be held responsible.
– Only the state can use Novitsjok. It is beyond question, Ivan Zhdanov wrote on Twitter, pointing to the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the GRU military intelligence service.
Who is behind the murder of politicians in Russia?
Russia refuses
Russian authorities deny having anything to do with the poisoning.
However, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia wanted to cooperate with Germany in the investigation of the case.
– We can confirm that we are ready and have an interest in full cooperation and data exchange with Germany in this case, says according to the Ria news agency.
The head of the Moscow forensic office said last week that there was insufficient evidence to say that Navalny was poisoned.
Russian gas
The Russian and German authorities have reached an agreement whereby the Russians will supply natural gas to the Germans.
Nord Stream, also known as the Northern European Gas Line, is a natural gas pipeline between Russia and Germany through the Baltic Sea.
The project was heavily criticized by the environmental movement, which was concerned that the pipeline laying work could affect mines, chemical weapons and heavy metals found at the bottom of the sea.
The gas pipeline was built by the Nord Stream company.
The main owner is the large Russian gas producer Gazprom with 51%. Germany’s Wintershall Holding owns 15.5%, Germany’s E. ON Ruhrgas 15.5%, Dutch’s Gasunie 9% and France’s GDF Suez 9%.
The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline will cost 10 billion euros.
German experts are certain that the opposition leader Navalny was poisoned by the neurotoxin Novitsjok. Foreign Minister Heiko Maas says it could affect Russian gas purchases if Russia does not provide a credible explanation within a few days.
Photo: Pavel Golovkin / AP
