BERLIN, September 6. /TASS/: Discussions concerning the Navalny incident should not be narrowed to the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in an interview with the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.
"In any case, I don’t think that Russians will make us change our position on Nord Stream 2. Those who demand it need to realize the consequences," he said.
The German top diplomat pointed out that the gas pipeline’s construction involves "over 100 companies form 12 European countries and about half of them come from Germany." "It is not the case to narrow discussions to the Nord Stream 2 issue," he added.
The leaders of the Alliance 90/The Green Party earlier demanded that the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline should be stopped. The Free Democratic Party suggested that a temporary moratorium be imposed on construction works until things are sorted out. However, Chairman of the Bundestag Committee on Economic Affairs and Energy Klaus Ernst believes there is no need to suspend the project.
The German government said earlier, citing the results of a toxicological analysis carried out by Bundeswehr experts, that Alexei Navalny had been poisoned with the Novichok nerve agent. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow was ready to cooperate with Germany in order to establish all circumstances of the Navalny incident. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, in turn, noted that Germany had failed to provide any evidence of poisoning.
