The Kremlin on Thursday rejected any involvement of the Russian state in the poisoning of the opponent Alexeï Navalny, victim according to Berlin of an attack using a Novichok-type nerve agent denounced by the West.
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“There is no reason to accuse the Russian state”, hammered the spokesman of the Kremlin, Dmitri Peskov, in front of the press, while calling on the West to beware of any “hasty judgment”.
According to the German government, extensive examinations carried out by a laboratory of the German army on the Russian opponent, hospitalized in Berlin, provided “unequivocal proof” of the use against this 44-year-old Kremlin critic of a Novichok-type neurotoxic chemical agent.
Developed by the Soviets in the 1970s as a chemical weapon, this agent is most often in the form of a fine powder capable of penetrating the pores of the skin or the respiratory tract.
After the Berlin statements, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on Thursday expressed its “grave concern”.
This same nerve agent had already been used against the former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in 2018 in England, according to the British authorities, who blamed the Russian state for it.
The Skripal affair at the time provoked heavy Western sanctions against Russia, which rejected any involvement.
“Poisoned” relationships
After Germany confirmed the poisoning of Mr. Navalny in Novichok, the Russian economy was shaken Thursday by fears of further sanctions against Moscow.
The ruble plunged as early as Wednesday evening to its lowest level since the peak of the coronavirus pandemic in the spring, and the Moscow Stock Exchange also tumbled, the RTS index, denominated in dollars, falling more than 3% at the close Wednesday.
“Russia’s relations with the West have again been poisoned by Novichok,” the Russian daily Kommersant wrote on Thursday.
However, a spokesman for the European Commission, Peter Stano, found it “difficult to speak of punishment (…) at this stage”, when “no investigation shows who is responsible”. He called on Russia “to investigate transparently and comprehensively”.
This situation could also have serious consequences for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, which was to supply Europe and in particular Germany with Russian gas. Although almost completed, the project has been on hold for several months due to threats of US sanctions.
Until now, Germany, the main European player in this project, condemned Washington’s position.
But Bild, Germany’s most widely read newspaper, called on Thursday for the project to be stopped, saying that “if the (German) government does not stop the construction of Nord Stream 2, we will soon be funding through (this project) the attacks on Putin’s Novichok ”.
“Very serious questions”
Anti-corruption activist, known for his investigations targeting the Russian elites, Alexeï Navalny was hospitalized in Siberia at the end of August after being unwell on the plane.
He was then transported to Berlin at the request of his family and remains “in serious condition”, according to the Berlin Charité Hospital.
“Very serious questions are now being asked, which only the Russian government can and should answer,” warned German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union.
For his part, Mr Peskov insisted on Thursday that “no toxic substances” had been detected by Russian doctors before Mr Navalny’s transfer to Berlin and lamented a “deficit” of information on the results of analyzes carried out in Germany.
“We hope that it will be possible to establish the origins of what happened, we have an interest in it, we wish it. But we need the information from Germany, ”said Dmitry Peskov.