German Foreign Minister Adds To Pressure On Moscow To Clarify Navalny Poisoning

Germany’s foreign minister has increased the pressure on Russia to explain the poisoning of Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny, saying Berlin could push for a joint response with its allies if Moscow fails to properly investigate.

Heiko Maas made the remarks in an interview published on September 6 as German officials signaled a tough line against Russia, which has denied involvement in the poisoning.

According to Maas, there are “several indications” that Russia was behind the poisoning.

“If in the coming days Russia does not help clarify what happened, we will be compelled to discuss a response with our allies,” Maas was quoted as telling Bild am Sonntag.

Maas also signaled a possible shift in German policy regarding the nearly complete Baltic Sea pipeline known as Nord Stream 2.

Chancellor Angela Merkel previously rejected the idea that the Navalny case should be linked to Nord Stream 2, which would bring gas from Russia to Germany.

Maas emphasized that stopping the pipeline would damage many German and European companies.

“More than 100 companies from 12 European countries are involved in Nord Stream 2, around half of them from Germany,” he said.

But he said if sanctions were considered, they should be as targeted as possible.

Germany on September 2 said that toxicology tests provided “unequivocal evidence” that the gravely ill Navalny had been poisoned with Novichok.

The Soviet-style, military-grade nerve agent has been in the past in the possession of military authorities and is only accessible to a very small group of people, Maas said.

Novichok was also used in the attack on Russian double-agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Britain in 2018.

If the Russian side did not participate in solving the crime against Navalny, that would be a further indication of the state’s involvement, Maas said.

Russian authorities have denied the German accusations, but also refused to open a criminal investigation into the case, saying that no hard evidence has been found.

Navalny, 44, fell ill on a flight from Siberia to Moscow on August 20, forcing the plane he was traveling on to make an emergency landing in Omsk, where he spent two days in hospital before being evacuated to Germany.

He is now on a respirator and under medically induced coma in an intensive-care unit at Charite Hospital in Berlin.

NATO on September 4 called on Russia to “fully cooperate” with an “impartial international” probe to be led by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) into the poisoning.

Russia “now has serious questions it must answer,” Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference.

“Any use of chemical weapons shows a total disrespect for human lives, and is an unacceptable breach of international norms and rules,” he said.

Stoltenberg said the NATO allies demanded Moscow reveal its Novichok program to the OPCW.

With reporting by Bild am Sonntag, ZDF, and AFP