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Kremlin slams reports on Russia’s alleged involvement in Georgian citizen’s murder

These are absolutely groundless assumptions, the Kremlin spokesman said

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov Mikhail Metzel/TASS

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov

© Mikhail Metzel/TASS

SOCHI, December 4. /TASS/. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has dismissed the suspicions that Russia could have something to do with the murder of a Georgian citizen in Berlin as "totally groundless."

"There are no serious suspicions there, and there cannot be. What does that have to do with the Russian authorities? These are absolutely groundless assumptions," he told reporters commenting on German media reports claiming that the killer could have something to do with the Russian authorities.

At the same time, he doubted that the issue could somehow cast a shadow over a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel scheduled to be held in Paris on December 9 and spoil the atmosphere of the Normandy Four summit.

In general, Peskov noted that the Kremlin was "unaware of the incident" in Berlin. "I have nothing to add. The probe is underway in Germany. We do not have any information whatsoever," he added.

On December 3, the Russian Embassy in Berlin likewise said it had no new data on the murder of a Georgian citizen in the German capital at the end of this past summer.

On Tuesday, some German media outlets, including the Suddeutsche Zeitung daily, reported that the German Prosecutor-General’s Office would oversee the investigation. That is done when evidence indicates possible foreign involvement.

A 40-year-old Georgian citizen was killed on August 23. Later in the day, Berlin’s Public Prosecutor’s Office said that the suspect, a 49-year-old Russian national, had been detained.

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