Russia says multiple hostile statements directed against Moscow over Navalny case
Russia says multiple hostile statements have been directed against Moscow regarding the case of opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who has been hospitalized in Germany with alleged poisoning.
The Russian opposition figure was first transferred to a hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk after collapsing during a domestic flight from the city to Moscow on August 20. His plane had been forced to make an emergency landing due to the sudden deterioration in his health.
Doctors subsequently found no trace of any poison in his blood or tissue samples and said that the deterioration had been caused by a sudden drop of glucose in his blood due to a metabolic imbalance.
However, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been quick to allege that 44-year-old Navalny had been poisoned with a Soviet-style Novichok nerve agent in an attempt to murder him and that she would consult NATO allies about how to respond.
Western countries have also been calling for a criminal investigation into the case.
Moscow has several times rejected allegations that Russia had been involved in any attack on Navalny and warned other countries against jumping to conclusions without knowing the full facts.
“In relation to these presumptuous comments that … (Novichok) was developed here, it is imperative to say the following,” said Russia’s Foreign Ministry in a statement on Saturday.
“For many years, specialists in many Western countries and in the specialized structures of NATO have worked with this wide ranging group of chemical components.”
The Russian Prosecutor-General’s Office has already requested Navalny’s medical record from the German hospital for a comparative study.
On Friday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Moscow “must” cooperate with an international investigation, stressing that NATO allies would continue to consult on the incident and “consider the implications.”
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov had stated earlier in the week that there was no reason to launch an investigation into Navany’s sudden illness, pointing out that no evidence of a crime has yet been produced.
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