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German cabinet spokesman reiterates call on Russia for clarifications on Navalny incident

Steffen Seibert declined to comment on reports concerning a plastic bottle, which, according to Navalny’s team, had been brought to Berlin from Russia and had traces of the Novichok nerve agent

BERLIN, September 18. /TASS/. Germany insists that Russia clarify the circumstances of the alleged poisoning of Alexey Navalny, German Government Spokesman Steffen Seibert said at a briefing in Berlin on Friday.

"We have asked and called on Russia to immediately provide clarifications and the call is still relevant," he pointed out.

According to Seibert, the European Union’s summit, set to take place on September 24-25, would particularly discuss relations with Turkey and China. When asked why Russia was not on the agenda, he said: "As it usually happens at summits, other issues may also be discussed, I can’t specify them, we’ll see."

Seibert declined to comment on reports concerning a plastic bottle, which, according to Navalny’s team, had been brought to Berlin from Russia and had traces of the Novichok nerve agent. "The government has taken note of the Navalny team’s video," he said, adding: "We have said everything we have to say in our press releases and we have nothing to add."

Navalny 'poisoning' saga

On August 20, a plane carrying Alexey Navalny made an emergency landing in the Russian city of Omsk after the blogger had suddenly felt unwell in mid-flight. Navalny was taken to hospital in a coma and was hooked up to a ventilator. On August 22, he was flown to Germany for treatment at Berlin’s Charite hospital.

The German government said on September 2, citing the results of a toxicological analysis carried out by Bundeswehr experts, that Navalny had been poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that Moscow was ready to fully cooperate with Berlin. Zakharova, in turn, noted that Germany had failed to provide any evidence of poisoning.