MOSCOW | The Kremlin ruled on Tuesday that German doctors had hastily concluded that Russian opponent Alexei Navalny had been poisoned, Russian medics not having reached this conclusion.
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“The medical analysis of our doctors and that of the Germans agree completely. But their conclusions differ. We do not understand this eagerness among German colleagues, ”said Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson for President Vladimir Putin.
According to him, poisoning “is one avenue among others. But there are many other medical avenues ”.
The Berlin doctors treating Mr. Navalny announced Monday that they had concluded that he had been intoxicated by “a substance from the group of cholinesterase inhibitors”, but could not immediately specify which.
This enzyme is likely to be used, in low doses, against Alzheimer’s disease. But depending on the dosage, it can be very dangerous and also produce strong nerve agents, such as the innervating agent Novichok.
Mr Peskov insisted that “no substance has been identified” by German doctors.
According to him, the Russian doctors had also noted that Mr. Navlany suffered from a level of cholinesterase too low, but that one could not deduce from it that there was poisoning.
“This drop (in cholinesterase) can have many causes, including taking certain medications. We must establish the cause, and this cause neither our doctors nor the Germans have identified it, ”he said, stressing that Russia would be“ grateful ”if a substance was discovered in Germany.
“We don’t know if there was poisoning or not,” he concluded.