On Wednesday, German authorities announced that an analysis of samples of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny's biological material showed that he was poisoned by a nerve agent of the so-called ‘Novichok' group, and his case would be treated as an “attempted murder by poisoning.” Moscow asked Berlin to provide evidence to back up its claims.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel reaffirmed Thursday that her government's reaction to the Navalny case, including possible sanctions, will depend on Russia's reaction to recent developments.
On Wednesday, Merkel announced that German authorities were now treating the Navalny case as “an attempted murder by poisoning”, and that Berlin would be consulting with its NATO and European allies and partners to discuss how to proceed.
The chancellor made the remarks after a government spokesman announced that a Bundeswehr analysis of Navalny's samples had shown that he had been been poisoned by a nerve agent of the so-called ‘Novichok' group.
Earlier Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated that Russia did not poison the opposition figure, and urged Berlin and other countries not to “jump to conclusions” on the matter. Peskov added that there have been no contacts between Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin on this issue since Berlin made its allegations Wednesday. He also stressed that Russia is ready to cooperate with German authorities, and…