BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd September, 2020) Russia could get samples taken from Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), from France and Sweden, but Germany would be a more direct route, Russian Ambassador Sergey Nechayev said.
In an interview with the Berliner Zeitung newspaper, Nechayev said Russia offered Germany cooperation in the investigation of the alleged poisoning incident, which required specific facts and evidence.
"The OPCW is certainly an opportunity. I do not rule out that we will request both in Paris and Stockholm. But Berlin would be a more direct path," he said when asked whether Russia could receive samples taken from Navalny from the listed actors.
On August 20, Navalny fell ill during a domestic Russian flight. He was initially treated in the Siberian city of Omsk, where the plane had to urgently land. Two days later, once the doctors established he was fit for cross-border aerial transportation, the man was flown to the Charite hospital in Germany for further treatment.
Later, the German government said doctors had found traces of a nerve agent from the Novichok group in his system. Moscow responded by pointing out the lack of evidence in Berlin's claims and noting that Russian doctors had found no toxic substances in Navalny.
Charite reported September 7 that Navalny's condition had improved, he had been taken out of a coma and disconnected from the ventilator.
The alleged poisoning of Navalny prompted many European officials to call for imposing additional sanctions on Russia. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said Moscow will respond reciprocally if the Western countries impose new sanctions over the Navalny case.
