Heiko Maas
Germany still admits the suspension of the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline due to the situation with Alexei Navalny. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told about this on the air of the ZDF TV channel.
He stressed that the final decision of Berlin on the project will depend on the actions of Moscow. “We will put all the options on the agenda and make a decision at the right time. Russia, having taken part in the investigation [of the incident], can contribute to the fact that the decision [on the suspension of construction] is not taken, ”the diplomat said. In his opinion, sometimes sanctions really should be applied in order to influence the other side.
Earlier, the head of the Bundestag Committee on Economy and Energy Klaus Ernst considered the calls to stop the construction of the gas pipeline a mistake. In his opinion, Nord Stream 2 should ensure the security of gas supply to Europe, so that the suspension of the project is not in the interests of European countries.
On September 7, German government spokesman Steffen Seibert reported that the country's Chancellor Angela Merkel admits a change in attitude towards Nord Stream 2 and the introduction of sanctions against it due to the situation around the Russian. Prior to that, she argued that the project is purely economic and not related to politics.
Alexei Navalny became ill on the morning of August 20 during a flight from Tomsk to Moscow, the plane urgently landed in Omsk. On August 22, the oppositionist was taken to a Berlin clinic. The German authorities announced the poisoning of a Russian citizen with the poison of the Novichok group. Russian doctors claim that the tests did not show the presence of any poisons in Navalny's body. The head physician of the Omsk ambulance hospital No. 1, Alexander Murakhovsky, claimed that the patient had a carbohydrate balance disorder.
