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Germany’s foreign minister has threatened to abandon their joint underwater gas pipeline project with Russia if Moscow does not start cooperating in an investigation into the poisoning of Alexei Navalny.
The fierce Kremlin criticThe 44-year-old fell ill on a flight to Moscow and has been in an induced coma since being flown to a Berlin hospital on August 22.
German authorities say tests showed he had been poisoned with a chemical nerve agent from the Novichok group.
Germany says Navalny was poisoned with Novichok
Speaking to the weekly Bild am Sonntag, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said: “I hope the Russians will not force us to change our position on Nord Stream 2.
“If there will be no contribution from the Russian side regarding the investigation in the coming days, we will have to consult with our partners.”
If completed, the project would deliver Russian gas directly to Germany under the Baltic Sea.
Maas said that Russia was interested in cooperating in the investigation of what happened to Navalny.
“We have high expectations from the Russians to unravel this grave crime,” Maas said.
“If they have nothing to do with this attack, then it is in their best interest to put the facts on the table.”
The United States is against the Nord Stream 2 project
Maas did not rule out the possibility of sanctions against Russia, telling the newspaper that, if used, “they should be effectively identified.”
However, he also admitted that halting the construction of the nearly completed pipeline would harm German and European companies, saying there were “more than 100 companies from 12 European countries” involved and that “about half of them” were from Germany.
“Whoever demands this has to be aware of the consequences,” he said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has previously said that Navalny’s poisoning was a attempted murder, aimed at silencing one of President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critics, and called for a full investigation.
She has personally offered the country’s help to treat Navalny, but previously rejected the idea that her case should be linked to the Nord Stream 2 project, which has become a source of increasing friction between Berlin and Washington.
The project would deliver Russian gas directly to Germany under the Baltic Sea.
The United States argues that it will jeopardize European security by making Germany too dependent on Russian gas.
Ukraine and Poland, which will be bypassed by the pipeline, also oppose the project.
In addition to safety concerns, the United States also wants to sell more of its own liquefied natural gas to Europe.
:: Listen to Polonium and the pianist on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Spreaker
Mr putinThe spokesman has dismissed allegations that the Kremlin was involved in the Navalny poisoning and said last week that Germany had not provided Moscow with any evidence about the politician’s condition.
British authorities previously identified Novichok, developed during the Soviet era, as the poison used on the former Russian spy. Sergei skripal and her daughter in Salisbury, Wiltshire, in 2018.
