Stoltenberg to Convene NATO Meeting on Friday to Discuss Navalny Situation - Spokeswoman

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd September, 2020) NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg will convene an emergency meeting on Friday to discuss the situation involving Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny, the alliance's spokeswoman, Oana Lungescu, said on Thursday.

Navalny is currently undergoing treatment in a German hospital after suffering a medical emergency in late August. Berlin on Wednesday said that a German military laboratory possessed undeniable proof of the 44-year-old's intoxication with a nerve agent from the Novichok group. The Russian Foreign Ministry noted in response that the German government's claims of Navalny's poisoning lacked evidence and added that it was perplexing why Berlin first addressed the EU, NATO and third parties, such as the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, instead of contacting Russia directly.

"#NATO Secretary General @jensstoltenberg will address the press after the meeting of the North Atlantic Council at Ambassadorial level on the #Novichok attack on Alexey Navalny tomorrow around 12.30pm [10:30 GMT]. The event will be live-streamed on NATO website," Lungescu wrote on Twitter.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier in the day that there had been no contacts between Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the issue of Navalny. He also noted that Russia was interested in shedding the light on the situation as much as anyone else, however, Germany did not provide any information.