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Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, commenting on the possible introduction of sanctions against the Russian Federation due to the poisoning of opposition politician Alexei Navalny, said that retaliatory sanctions are “the reality of international relations” .
If the European Union imposes sanctions against the Russian Federation due to the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Moscow will take countermeasures. This was announced on the air of the Dozhd channel on October 8 by the president of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova.
“Sanctions always lead to retaliatory measures in international relations. This is the reality of international relations. The question is what they want to achieve. If they want to set a goal, find who is to blame, then what does sanction have to do with it? with that?” – she said.
On August 20, the plane in which Navalny flew from Tomsk to Moscow sat urgently in Omsk due to deteriorating state of politician. Navalny was unconscious in the toxic resuscitation department of the emergency hospital No. 1 in Omsk. On August 22, he was taken to the Berlin clinic “Charite” in a specially equipped plane.
On September 2, the German government announced that traces of a substance similar in composition to Novichok had been found in Navalny’s body. The biological material extracted from the politician was examined by the laboratory of the German armed forces. The fact of the poisoning of Navalny with poison from the Novichok group was also confirmed by laboratories in France and Sweden.
On October 6, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons reported that biomarkers of a cholinesterase inhibitor were found in Navalny’s body. This is a little known nerve agent that is not on the official OPCW list.
Navalny was in a coma for 18 days. Charité’s doctors announced on September 7 that they would bring him out of a medical coma and disconnect him from the ventilator. On September 14, German doctors reported that the politician is feeling better and is on his feet. On September 22, Navalny was discharged from the clinic, he is in rehabilitation.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said the Navalny poisoning allegations were not supported by facts. The head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation, Sergei Naryshkin, claims that at the time of the departure to Germany there were no traces of poison on the body of the politician.
As Le Monde wrote, Russian President Vladimir Putin on September 14, during a telephone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron, suggested that Navalny “for an unknown reason” may have taken poison from the Novichok group himself.
October 7 Ministries of Foreign Affairs of France and Germany reported on the preparation of European sanctions for intoxication Navalny. The sanctions project will affect people considered responsible in the European Union for a crime and violation of international standards. The sanctions will also affect organizations involved in Novichok’s nerve agent development program, the diplomats said. Reuters, citing sources, reported that the sanctions will affect military intelligence officers of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Federation.
Navalny said that The EU should impose sanctions against the inner circle of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said that France and Germany, which proposed imposing sanctions in connection with the Navalny case, headed the “anti-Russian coalition”.
On October 8, the French daily Le Monde reported that France and Germany had submitted sanctions proposals to the European Union in response to the Navalny poisoning. According to the newspaper, the list includes nine people. In addition, according to Le Monde, the State Research Institute for Organic Chemistry and Technology, in which the Novichok poison was developed, will be sanctioned. The issue of sanctions will be discussed in Brussels on October 12.
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