The foreign ministers of the world’s top seven industrialized countries issued a statement on August 8, strongly condemning the “attempted poisoning” of the Russian opposition leader Navalny. According to the statement, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy condemned in the strongest terms the poisoning of Navalny. The Russians rejected any accusation of involvement in the suspected poisoning of Putin’s “opponents,” and demanded that Berlin show evidence of its allegations.
Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel called it an “attempted poisoning” of the Russian opposition leader in an effort to “silence him. In an unusually clear position, Merkel said that “very serious questions” had arisen and that only the Russian government could and should respond. In her statement, Merkel also made her personal concerns clear. She said that the crime against Navalny was directed against “the basic values and fundamental rights that we stand for” and that “the world will wait for answers.
The German foreign ministry summoned Russia’s ambassador to Germany, Sergei Netschajew, in an effort to urge Russia to “provide full and complete transparency” of the information. Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that Russia must investigate those responsible and bring them to justice.
On August 19, 2020, while returning from Omsk to Moscow on a plane, Navalny felt severely unwell on board and showed signs of poisoning before the plane made an emergency landing.
His spokesman Kira Yarmysh suspected that the tea Navalny was drinking an hour before boarding the plane was mixed with toxins.
Hospital officials in Omsk refused to provide information about his condition and did not allow his family or supporters to see him, and medical staff refused to show the results of poisoning tests. In the urgency of the situation, Yarmisch wanted to send Navalny to Germany for treatment, urging Russian authorities not to intervene.
At one point, hospital officials refused to release Navalny for treatment in Germany, citing his “serious condition. The Kremlin has denied any involvement in the incident.
On August 22, the Russian authorities approved his release, and he traveled to Berlin for treatment on a plane chartered by the Peace Film Foundation.
On August 24, preliminary tests for cholinesterase inhibitors in Navalny’s body were conducted at Berlin’s Charité Hospital. On September 2, German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the attack as an attempted murder after German tests concluded the presence of the nerve agent Novichok in Navalny’s body.
On September 8, the foreign ministers of the seven industrialized nations rhetorically condemned the poisoning of opposition activist Navalny.
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