Merkel makes a statement on Nord Stream 2 and the case of Alexei Navalny

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline needs to be completed, there is no need to link this issue with the case of Alexei Navalny.

Earlier, German politicians and journalists called on the country’s government to withdraw from the project against the background of what happened to Navalny.

“I think we should share. From our point of view, Nord Stream 2 should be completed. It is a project that is being carried out by economic actors from Russia and Europe,” Merkel said at the annual big summer press conference question to RIA Novosti.

The German Chancellor noted that the “political consequences” of such cooperation relate to the issue of gas transit through Ukraine, which the parties agreed upon.

“I consider it inappropriate to link this economic project with the Navalny issue,” she stressed.

“We have always said that we must remain in dialogue with Russia, there are many international topics, I think about Syria, Libya, where Russia <…> is an important strategic partner,” she added.

According to the chancellor, when it becomes clear about the reasons for Navalny’s hospitalization, “as it was in the situation with Skripal,” Europe will begin to discuss the general reaction. Merkel stressed that “this is not a German problem, although Germany has accepted Navalny.”

Hospitalization of Alexey Navalny

The bulk of the fifth day is in the Berlin clinic “Charite”. German doctors had previously diagnosed him with poisoning. When the patient was in the Omsk hospital, Russian specialists reported that the main working diagnosis was metabolic disorders.

The blogger felt bad a week ago when he was flying from Tomsk to Moscow. The plane urgently landed in Omsk, Navalny was taken to the hospital, he fell into a coma. Then, at the request of his wife, he was transported to Berlin for treatment.

Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov noted that Moscow cannot take speculation about its involvement in the “poisoning” of Navalny seriously. Analysts of Russian and German doctors on the blogger’s condition, the Kremlin spokesman emphasized, are the same.