MOSCOW, September 3. /TASS/. Berlin absolutely defies the legal mechanisms of cooperation with Moscow in the situation with Russian blogger Alexei Navalny, the Russian Foreign Ministry told TASS on Wednesday.
"We are again witnessing a situation when our counterparts prefer strong public statements, without presenting any facts but totally disregarding the current legal mechanisms of cooperation, to meticulous work based on physical facts and evidence and substantive cooperation between the law enforcement and health agencies," the foreign ministry said.
Nevertheless, the Russian Foreign Ministry pointed out that the German statements could become more comprehensible if their goal was to justify the previously drafted measures against Russia.
"It is becoming clear why they use megaphone diplomacy, replace normal cooperation with an information campaign, make public appeals to the EU and NATO and mention the OPCW. However, if the ultimate goal is still a thorough investigation by the law enforcement agencies with participation of the medical institutions - which we firmly insist on - then we call on our counterparts to fully cooperate and to exchange information using existing bilateral legal mechanisms," the statement says.
The Foreign Ministry recalled that a week ago, the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office submitted an official request for legal assistance to the German justice ministry, but the German counterparts have only confirmed the receipt of the request. Along with this, the Foreign Ministry noted, the Prosecutor General’s Office expressed its readiness to share with the German side the results of tests and examinations conducted after Navalny’s hospitalization.
After Navalny had been transferred to Berlin’s Charite hospital, doctors from Omsk immediately offered any possible assistance in diagnostics in a letter to German doctors.
"In a reply, the German hospital thanked them for concern, but did not ask for any particular help," the Russian Foreign Ministry added. "There is an impression that somebody forbids the German Health Ministry and health workers from communicating with their Russian counterparts."
"Russia is still waiting for an official response from Berlin to the request from the Prosecutor General’s Office and Russian medical institutions," the foreign ministry concluded.
German statements on Navalny case
Earlier on Wednesday, the German Cabinet’s spokesperson Steffen Seibert said that at the initiative of the Charite hospital the Bundeswehr’s special laboratory had carried out toxicological analysis of Alexei Navalny’s test samples. The analysis provided indisputable proof of the presence of a Novichok class nerve agent, he said. Seibert added that Chancellor Angela Merkel held a meeting with some ministers and agreed a number of steps in the light of the latest data. According to the spokesman, the German Foreign Ministry will inform Russia’s ambassador on the results of the tests and that the European Union, NATO and the OPCW will be updated on the Navalny case.
Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS that the Kremlin was unaware of the German authorities’ conclusions that blogger Alexei Navalny was allegedly poisoned with the Novichok toxic agent. A source told TASS that Russian forensic experts had not found any poisonous or toxic chemicals in Navalny’s system or on his belongings. Moreover, during an inquiry the police had found no evidence of intentional infliction of bodily harm to Navalny.
Navalny was rushed to a local hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk on August 20 after collapsing on the Tomsk-Moscow flight. He fell into a coma and was put on a ventilator in the intensive care unit. On August 22, he was airlifted to the Charite hospital in Berlin. On August 24, German doctors said that indicators of cholinesterase inhibitors had been found in his body. The doctors added that his life was not in danger but long-term complications for his nervous system could not be ruled out.