Sergey Lavrov
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov explained to his German counterpart Heiko Maas Russia's position on the Alexei Navalny case. TASS reports.
It is noted that Russia has confirmed its willingness to cooperate in the Navalny case. At the same time, Moscow considers it necessary to abandon the further politicization of the situation around the hospitalized Russian. Lavrov also said that Moscow is in favor of maintaining dialogue through the usual channels of legal assistance.
Earlier, Lavrov canceled his visit to Berlin, scheduled for September 15. Foreign ministers were supposed to participate in the closing ceremony of the “cross” year of scientific and educational partnerships in Berlin, the event was agreed upon a year ago. However, there have been changes in the schedule of German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, which is why he will not be able to attend the ceremony – for this reason, Sergey Lavrov also canceled his visit. Instead, he will send a greeting to the participants.
On September 12, the deputy from the party “Alternative for Germany” Waldemar Gerdt said that the situation with Alexei Navalny could be used as a fictitious excuse to spoil relations between Russia and Germany. In his opinion, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is pushing the authorities to make a decision that infringes on the interests of Berlin – to suspend the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
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, Navalny was taken to a Berlin clinic. German doctors conducted a study and announced the poisoning of the patient with the poison of the Novichok group.
