Russia summons German envoy over assertions about Navalny
Russia has summoned the German ambassador to Moscow over assertions by German officials about the alleged poisoning of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny.
The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned German Ambassador Geza Andreas von Geyr on Tuesday over statements made by German officials on the situation concerning Navalny, ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a press conference.
Navalny, 44, took ill on a domestic Russian flight on August 20. He was later transported to the German capital, Berlin, where he is currently under observation.
Doctors at a Russian hospital where he was initially admitted to found no traces of poisoning in his blood or tissue samples and said that the deterioration in his health had been caused by a sudden drop of glucose in his blood due to a metabolic imbalance.
However, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was quick to allege that there was “unequivocal evidence” that Navalny had been poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent and that she would consult NATO allies about how to respond.
The Russian opposition figure’s associates also claimed that the purported use of Novichok, a military-grade nerve agent, showed that Moscow was responsible.
The Russian government has roundly denied any involvement in any attack on Navalny. After initial claims were made that he had been poisoned, Moscow asked Germany for his medical records and warned other countries against jumping to conclusions without knowing the full facts.
“We expect Berlin to provide us with all the available data, including the results of lab tests conducted by the Bundeswehr as well as the ‘evidence’ that the German Foreign Ministry has,” Zakharova said.
Germany has already threatened to reconsider a joint pipeline project with Russia known as Nord Stream 2 unless the Kremlin cooperates with Germany’s investigation into the alleged poisoning.
On Sunday, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas also threatened that Berlin would discuss possible sanctions against Moscow if the Kremlin did not cooperate.
Meanwhile, the German hospital where Navalny is reportedly admitted to says he has come out of coma and is responding to verbal stimuli, less than a week after Berlin claimed he had been poisoned with a lethal nerve agent.
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