Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov commented on Germany's reaction to Moscow's requests on the situation with Alexei Navalny and called Berlin's statements "absurd."
He made the corresponding statement at a press conference following talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
Lavrov called Germany's behavior in the current situation "undignified."
“We hear public comments, including from German officials, who say rather absurd things, for example, the thesis that everything that happened to Navalny happened in Russia, so we will not help you with anything, figure it out yourself, but we demand that you admit that you are guilty, ”Lavrov said.
In particular, the foreign minister recalled that Russia officially requested the FRG for consular access to Navalny, who is a Russian citizen, but received no response.
In addition, after the proposal of the German authorities to seek information on the situation with the blogger in the OPCW, Russia immediately sent a request there.
In the organization, Lavrov stressed, "they fooled their heads for several days," saying that they had not received any appeals, and the leadership of the organization said that it had "nothing to do with it."
After that, the minister said, it became known that representatives of the OPCW came to the Charite clinic, where Navalny is located, and took samples from him.
According to Lavrov, the OPCW called the situation a "misunderstanding", and in response to another request from the Russian side to share its conclusions on the situation, it was advised to apply with such requests to the German authorities.
“That is, the Germans are sending us to The Hague, the Hague is sending us to Berlin.
Quite an interesting story if we take into account Western adherence to international law, ”the minister said.
“We hope that all the same the partners will understand the futility of talking to us from the position of a certain supreme being who does not even bother to answer legal questions based on international conventions, and only demands so haughtily and arrogantly some kind of repentance from us” - said Lavrov.
Meanwhile, Yaka Bizil, the founder of the Cinema for Peace Foundation, which organized the transportation of Navalny to Germany, answering a question from RT Deutsch told about the bottles from the hotel room in Tomsk, on which, according to Navalny's supporters, traces of the Novichok poisonous substance were allegedly found ...
When asked whether the pilots and doctors who were on the plane with the blogger and the indicated bottles on the way to Berlin were subsequently tested, Bizil said that he "did not know anything about it."
On the eve of Russia's Permanent Representative to the OPCW, Alexander Shulgin, in an interview with RT, also spoke about the note that Moscow sent to the German Permanent Representative to the OPCW to clarify the situation around the blogger.
As the permanent representative explained, the German side was asked to urgently provide comprehensive information on the entire range of issues related to the Navalny case, including test results, biological and clinical samples.
At the same time, a letter was sent to the General Director of the OPCW, Fernando Arias, with a request to bring to the attention of all members of the organization information about the steps taken by Russia.
In accordance with international law, Germany must respond to the request within ten days, Shulgin emphasized.
In addition, the permanent representative noted an excessive degree of politicization of the situation with Alexei Navalny.
“Now the degree of politicization is off the charts.
It all becomes downright hysterical.
Not a day goes by without calls to punish Russia and its leadership, to impose new sanctions, to freeze projects, including Nord Stream 2, the diplomat said.
Against the background of the current situation, the Permanent Representative called on the Western partners to speak calmly, without bias, and in a business atmosphere.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova noted that the West launched a disinformation campaign around the situation with Alexei Navalny, and indicated that Moscow considers such rhetoric unacceptable.
“There is no evidence of any Russian involvement, as they say, there is a Russian trace in what happened, and there cannot be,” she said.
Zakharova clarified that Berlin has not yet provided data confirming the presence of "Novichok" in the analyzes of Alexei Navalny.
In turn, the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov pointed out the difficulties in investigating the situation with Alexei Navalny due to the fact that the persons accompanying the blogger took with them many evidence.
In addition, the investigative actions are difficult due to problems with obtaining data from the German side, he added.