German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on September 6 that if Russia fails to provide an explanation for the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny as soon as possible, Germany will have to discuss countermeasures with the European Union. In addition, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told Sky TV on the same day that it was difficult to find a reasonable explanation for the incident other than the idea that the Russian government was responsible.
In an interview with Bild Zeitung, German Foreign Minister Maas said, “If Russia cannot clarify what happened in the coming days, we will be forced to discuss a response with the EU.” He also stressed that any sanctions decided upon should be “targeted,” and did not rule out the possibility of EU sanctions against the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline project with Russia.
There are many indications that the Russian government is behind the Navalny poisoning,” Maas reiterated. He said that “the deadly substance that poisoned Navalny has been found in the past in the Russian government.” Maas noted that “only a few people had access to the Novichok nerve agent.” Earlier, the German government said on Sept. 2 that tests in Germany found that Russian opposition leader Navalny, who fell into a coma last month, had been poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok.)
In 2018, a former Russian intelligence officer, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter fell into a coma in the U.K., after which another couple was poisoned in the U.K. The U.K. says the four were poisoned. The U.K. claimed that Novichok was among the four and that the incident was “most likely” linked to Russia, which Russia denied. The incident triggered a storm of expulsions of diplomats between the UK and other Western countries and Russia.
On September 3, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia denied any allegations of poisoning Navalny and warned other countries against jumping to conclusions. At the same time, he said the Russian side has not yet received details of German medical tests, including the results of drugs, poisons, heavy metals and cholinesterase inhibitors. However, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov suggested a day later that the Navalny poisoning was similar to the poisoning of Skripal and his daughter. For his part, he told reporters, “It’s all going according to the same old script. He said the current state of affairs is reminiscent of the poisoning of Skripal and his daughter, and that the Russians have been publicly blamed, but that the British have kept the results of the investigation under wraps, and that Skripal and his daughter have not shown up.
In addition, U.S. President Donald Trump, when asked about the incident at the White House press conference, said that the U.S. has not received any relevant evidence. He also stressed that the U.S. will respond if the poisoning story is true. Also on this topic, British Foreign Secretary Raab said in an interview on Sunday that the Novichok nerve agent was apparently used in the Navarone poisoning case. He also referred to the experience gained by the British in the attack on Skripal and his daughter.
Raab said, “It is very difficult to come up with any other reasonable explanation for the poisoning of Mr. Navalny than that of the Russian authorities.” He said, “Quite simply, because it is very difficult (for others) to obtain Novichok, it is very difficult to control and handle this nerve agent that was designed for military projects during the Soviet era.” He noted, “What is clear now is that the Russian government has a series of very serious questions that need to be answered.”
Raab said, “We will stand with our German partners and others, and I also spoke with Mas on Thursday.” Rabb said, “We will work within the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which has the authority to pursue accountability and investigation, to pressure Russia for answers and to hold Russia accountable.” He continued, “Whether or not the perpetrators are Russian authorities, because Russia is a party to the CWC, it rightly has a commitment to a range of related issues, not just the inability to use chemical and biological weapons, a disgusting and, frankly, robberish act.” He continued, “In addition, the Russian side has the responsibility to prohibit the use of these weapons on Russian territory.”
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