Germany ups pressure on Russia in Navalny poisoning investigation

BERLIN (AP) — Germany on Sunday increased pressure on Russia over the poisoning of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, warning that a lack of support by Moscow in the investigation could “force” Germany to rethink the fate of a German-Russian gas pipeline project.

“I hope the Russians won’t force us to change our position regarding the Nord Stream 2″ pipeline being built under the Baltic Sea, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told weekly Bild am Sonntag.

Maas also said that “if there won’t be an contributions from the Russian side regarding the investigation in the coming days, we will have to consult with our partners.”

He did not exclude possible punishments against Russia, telling the newspaper that “if we think about sanctions, they should be pinpointed effectively.”

11 PHOTOSRussia opposition leader Alexei NavalnySee GalleryRussia opposition leader Alexei NavalnyRussian opposition activist Alexei Navalny attends a march in central Saint Petersburg on February 25, 2012. Russian protest leader Alexei Navalny led thousands through the streets of Vladimir Putin’s native city demonstrating against his likely return to the Kremlin in March 4 polls.AFP PHOTO/ OLGA MALTSEVA (Photo credit should read OLGA MALTSEVA/AFP/Getty Images)Russian protest leader Alexei Navalny stands outside a court in the provincial northern city of Kirov on April 24, 2013. A Russian court in Kirov reopened todaythe trial of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is accused of embezzlement and may face up to a decade in jail if convicted. AFP PHOTO / KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV(Photo credit should read KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP/Getty Images)Russia’s top opposition leader Alexei Navalny (L), flanked by his wife Yulia (R), addresses supporters and journalists upon his arrival in a Moscow’s railway station on July 20, 2013. Navalny told hundreds of cheering supporters on Saturday that he would push ahead with his bid to become Moscow mayor after his surprise release from jail pending an appeal of an embezzlement conviction. AFP PHOTO / VASILY MAXIMOV(Photo credit should read VASILY MAXIMOV/AFP/Getty Images)One of Russian protest movement leaders, Alexei Navalny,speaks as he arrives for the hearing of his case in a court in Moscow, on February 28, 2014. A Moscow courtordered today Navalny to be placed under house arrest after a request from investigators probing an alleged embezzlement case. AFP PHOTO(Photo credit should read -/AFP/Getty Images)MOSCOW, RUSSIA – FEBRUARY 27: Russian opposition leader and anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny attends a march on the anniversary of the murder of Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov in Moscow, Russia on February 27, 2016. (Photo by Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)MOSCOW, RUSSIA – MARCH 30, 2017: Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny appears at the Moscow City Court for a hearing into his appeal against a 15-day detention order. Navalny was detained at an unauthorized anti-corruption rally in Moscow on March 26, 2017. Valery Sharifulin/TASS (Photo by Valery Sharifulin\TASS via Getty Images)VLADIVOSTOK, RUSSIA – SEPTEMBER 23, 2017: Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny speaks during a meeting with Vladivostok residents. Yuri Smityuk/TASS (Photo by Yuri Smityuk\TASS via Getty Images)VLADIVOSTOK, RUSSIA – SEPTEMBER 23, 2017: Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny speaks during a meeting with Vladivostok residents. Yuri Smityuk/TASS (Photo by Yuri Smityuk\TASS via Getty Images)IZHEVSK, RUSSIA – NOVEMBER 11, 2017: Opposition activist Alexei Navalny meets with his supporters in central Izhevsk, Republic of Udmurtia, Russia during his presidential election campaign. Yegor Aleyev/TASS (Photo by Yegor Aleyev\TASS via Getty Images)MOSCOW, RUSSIADECEMBER 24, 2017: Opposition activist Alexei Navalny meets with his supporters as he announces his decision to run in the 2018 Russian presidential election. Sergei Fadeichev/TASS (Photo by Sergei Fadeichev\TASS via Getty Images)Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny attends a meeting to uphold his bid for presidential candidate, in Moscow, Russia December 24, 2017. REUTERS/Maxim ShemetovUp Next

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However, Maas also admitted that halting the building of the nearly completed gas pipeline would harm German and European companies.

“Whoever demands this has to be aware of the consequences,” he said. “More than 100 companies from 12 European countries are involved (in the construction), about half of them from Germany.”

The German government has come under growing pressure to use the joint German-Russian pipeline project as leverage in getting Russia to provide answers on Navalny. The Nord Stream 2 project would deliver Russian gas directly to Germany under the Baltic Sea when completed, bypassing Ukraine.

Navalny, a Kremlin critic and corruption investigator, fell ill on a flight to Moscow last month and was taken to a hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk. He has been in an induced coma in a Berlin hospital since he was flown to Germany for treatment on August 22.

German authorities have said that tests showed that he had been poisoned with a chemical nerve agent from the Novichok group. British authorities previously identified the nerve agent, developed during the Soviet era, as the poison used on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in England in 2018.

“We have high expectations from the Russians to bring light into this severe crime,” Maas said. “If they have nothing to do with this attack then it’s in their own interest to put the facts on the table.”

President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman has brushed off allegations that the Kremlin was involved in poisoning Navalny and said last week that Germany hadn’t provided Moscow with any evidence about the politician’s condition.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Navalny’s poisoning an attempted murder that aimed to silence one of Putin’s fiercest critics and called for a full investigation.

Merkel personally offered the country’s assistance in treating Navalny. He’s now in stable condition at Berlin’s Charite hospital, but doctors expect a long recovery and haven’t ruled out that the 44-year-old could face long-term effects to his health.

Merkel has previously rejected the idea that the Navalny case should be linked to the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

The U.S. has long opposed the project, which has been increasingly a source of friction between Berlin and Washington. In early August, three Republican senators threatened sanctions against an operator of a Baltic Sea port located in Merkel’s parliamentary constituency over its part in Nord Stream 2. The Mukran port is a key staging post for ships involved in its construction.

The U.S. argues the project will endanger European security by making Germany overly dependent on Russian gas. It’s also opposed by Ukraine and Poland, which will be bypassed by the pipeline under the Baltic, as well as some other European nations.

In addition to the security concerns, the U.S. also wants to sell more of its own liquefied natural gas, or LNG, to Europe.

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