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Austria’s top diplomat vows Russia won’t be sanctioned over Navalny case without proof

On Wednesday, the German Cabinet cited the Bundeswehr toxicologists as saying that the Russian blogger had been affected by a poisonous substance from the notorious Novichok family

Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca

Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg

© AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca

BERLIN, September 4. /TASS/. The European Union should not impose sanctions on Russia over the Navalny incident without proof of the authorities’ involvement, Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Schallenberg said Friday in an interview for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

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"All measures are possible. There is an EU sanctions procedure against chemical weapon proliferation. Depending on the investigation’s outcome, we will discuss possible sanctions. But they must not be announced arbitrarily without proof. We must know who is responsible, Schallenberg said, when answering a question about EU pressure mechanisms against Russia over the Navalny incident.

The European Union should not lump together the decision on the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline with the incident with blogger Alexei Navalny, the Austrian foreign minister noted.

"You have to be careful and not to lump everything together. Even in the past we managed to distinguish when it concerned Crimea and events in eastern Ukraine. We have always responded precisely to those actions by Moscow that were unacceptable to us. There will certainly be a discussion, but I believe that one should act cum grano salis," Schellenberg said responding to the question if Austria and Germany should continue to support the Nord Stream 2 project.

On Wednesday, the German Cabinet cited the Bundeswehr toxicologists as saying that the Russian blogger had been affected by a poisonous substance from the notorious Novichok family. Berlin called on Russia to clarify the circumstances of the incident. Russia reiterated that it is interested in the investigation of the incident. However, the Russian Foreign Ministry noted that Berlin provided no proof of its version of the incident.

The Nord Stream 2 project envisages the construction of two pipeline strings with a total capacity of 55 bln cubic meters per year from the coast of Russia through the Baltic Sea to Germany. To date, 93.5% of Nord Stream 2 has been finished. The construction was suspended at the end of 2019 when the Swiss pipe-laying company Allseas stopped work due to US sanctions.

The German government repeatedly spoke in favor of the project. However, Berlin pointed out that Ukraine should retain the role of a gas transit country in the future.

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Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun noted that he wanted to discuss "the most fundamental issues" with his Russian counterpart, given the constraints of time and place

Russia needs to boost production of goods based on domestic technologies — Putin

The President undescored that Russia did not plan to produce absolutely everything domestically

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There is confirmed evidence of his connections with French secret services

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Ukrainian army strikes own surrendering soldiers — POW

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Israel Defense Forces delivers more strikes on Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon

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Blinken’s visit to China meant to shatter Russian-Chinese ties — senior Russian diplomat

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Earlier, US President Joe Biden signed a package of bills approved by Congress, which total some $95 bln and include about $61 bln to help Ukraine and $26 bln to support Israel

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Thirty-one American tanks have become "unfit for the classical deployment," Maxim Buzhansky said

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Russian troops wipe out Ukrainian UAV production workshop over past day

The Russian forces improved their frontline positions and inflicted casualties on five Ukrainian army brigades in the Donetsk area over the past day, the Defense Ministry reported

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Beijing sticks to the principle of non-alignment with any blocs, the Chinese leader said and called on Washington "to refrain from teaming up in small groups"

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US military advisers, if sent to Ukraine, won’t come close to frontlines — Pentagon

"United States has no intent of conducting combat operations inside of Ukraine, nor are these forces going to be anywhere near the frontlines," Patrick Ryder said

Kiev violates diplomatic relations convention by recruiting mercenaries abroad — diplomat

Maria Zakharova pointed to media reports, according to which Ukrainian embassies in a number of countries are openly campaigning local citizens to join the so-called International Legion of Ukrainian Territorial Defense

Russia warns US, NATO against harming its security — diplomat

Maria Zakharova stressed that "the level of nuclear risks have risen dramatically as a result of the West’s destructive policy, which is fraught with a direct military confrontation between nuclear powers"

Top Chinese diplomat says two states only solution to Middle East situation

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Andrey Marochko added that the Ukrainians have also intensified artillery and drone attacks at Russian positions

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Casualties reported after Ukrainian strike on residential house in Zaporozhye Region city

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Russian defense chief points to West’s double standards on right to self-defense

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Ukraine could send special forces to capture Zaporozhye NPP — politician

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