THE HAGUE, October 20. /TASS/. Western countries’ response to the Russian inquiry regarding blogger Alexey Navalny, filed via the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), are empty and devoid of content, Russian Permanent Representative to the Organization Alexander Shulgin told TASS Wednesday.
"The general impression - the responses are empty, devoid of content," he said. "It is difficult to even call them formal."
He provided several examples in support of his opinion.
"For example, we asked the Germans who was that mysterious stranger aboard the medical plane that transferred Navalny from Omsk to Berlin," Shulgin reminded. "The Germans replied that the plane was chartered by a private company and that there were no representatives of the German government or any federal agencies."
"It is very difficult to believe that the German federal government was unaware of the passenger list and had no idea who went to Omsk to escort the blogger. There is obvious bad faith."
Russia was also not satisfied by responses about UK citizen Maria Pevchikh, about the water bottle that allegedly contained traces of a chemical compound, and about a number of other issues. Some responses were completely unrelated to the questions asked, the diplomat noted.
According to Shulgin, Russia also "noted that the Western states provided their responses simultaneously."
"This looks like a coordinated action," the envoy noted. "Apparently, they consulted with each other, advised on what to say. All this proves that there is a conspiracy between them in order to prevent the discovery of the truth."
During the OPCW Executive Council session that started on October 5, a group of 45 countries sent a request to Russia regarding the Navalny situation. Russia responded to this request within two days and initiated a reciprocal request, addressed to the UK, Germany, France, Sweden and the OPCW Technical Secretariat.
Alexey Navalny was hospitalized in Omsk on August 20, 2020, after he felt sick aboard a plane. Later, he was transferred to Berlin. On September 2, the German government claimed that the blogger was poisoned by a nerve agent from the Novichok family. According to Berlin, these conclusions were confirmed by laboratories in France and Sweden. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said repeatedly that Moscow is ready for comprehensive cooperation with Germany, noting that no poisonous substance was found in Navalny’s body prior to his transfer to Berlin.