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Germany Threatens Sanctions on Russia over Navalny Poisoning

VOA News

   Germany's foreign minister has held out the possibility of sanctions on
   Russia if the Kremlin does not provide information soon about the
   suspected poisoning of opposition leader Alexey Navalny.

   Heiko Maas told the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag that there were
   "several indications" Moscow was behind the attack.

   "If in the coming days Russia does not help clarify what happened, we
   will be compelled to discuss a response with our allies," Maas told
   German daily, adding that any sanctions should be "targeted." Germany
   is the current head of the European Union.

   "We have high expectations of the Russian government to solve this
   serious crime," Maas said. "If the government has nothing to do with
   the attack, then it is in its own interest to back this up with facts."

   Maas did not even rule out sanctions against the $11-billion Nord
   Stream 2 pipeline that is under construction'¯to deliver Russian gas to
   Europe.

   "I hope... that the Russians do not force us to change our position on
   Nord Stream," he said. Germany would not be reluctant to act on any
   potential scrapping of the project upon assessment, Maas said, and that
   the discussions on sanctions should not be "reduced" to a single point.

   Earlier this week, the German government said Navalny had been poisoned
   with the military-grade nerve agent Novichok.

   "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," Maas told Bild.

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