German president says Navalny poisoners can ‘only be found in Russia’

Berlin, Sept. 4, (dpa/GNA) – German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier says the world must look to Russia to find the perpetrators who poisoned Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

“A crime has been committed here, the perpetrators of which can only be found in Russia … The most pressing questions are now addressed to the government in Moscow,” Steinmeier told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND).

Calling on Russia for clarification, Steinmeier said it was now for the German government to “draw the concrete conclusions from the latest findings, in coordination with our European partners.”

The “fact that opposition and critical voices in Russia have to fear for their health or their lives” presents a “heavy burden” for his country’s cooperation with Russia, he added.

Meanwhile government spokesman Steffen Seibert declined to repeat Chancellor Angela Merkel’s earlier comments that the Navalny case and the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline should be “de-coupled.”

GNA