Germany threatens sanctions over poisoning

Germany, the current head of the European Union, will discuss possible sanctions on Russia over the poisoning of Alexei Navalny if the Kremlin does not provide an explanation soon, its foreign minister Heiko Maas said.

Russian opposition leader Navalny fell ill on a flight last month and was treated in a Siberian hospital before being evacuated to Berlin.

Germany said last week there was “unequivocal evidence” that

President Vladimir Putin’s top foe had been poisoned using Novichok, a Soviet-era nerve agent.

“In the coming days, if Russia does not help clarify what happened, we will be compelled to discuss a response with our allies,” Maas told German daily Bild.

“Any sanctions decided should be “targeted”, he added.

Western leaders and many Russians have expressed horror at what Navalny’s allies say is the first known use of chemical weapons against a high-profile opposition leader on Russian soil.

The Kremlin has denied responsibility for the attack and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Germany has yet to share any findings with Moscow’s prosecutors.

There were “several indications” that Russia was behind the poisoning, Maas said, in the strongest accusations yet from Germany.

“The deadly substance with which Navalny was poisoned has in the past been found in the hands of Russian authorities.

“Only a small number of people have access to Novichok and this poison was used by Russian secret services in the attack against former agent Sergei Skripal,” he said, referring to the 2018 attack in the English city of Salisbury.

On the subject of which sanctions could be discussed by the EU, Maas didn’t rule out action relating to the disputed Nord Stream 2 pipeline.