On July 16, members of the State Duma Commission on the Investigation of Foreign Interference in Russia's Internal Affairs held a meeting with representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation at the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The Chairman of the Commission Vasilii Piskarev
Vasily Ivanovich
said that members of the State Duma discussed
with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey
Ryabkov and other representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry inconsistencies
in the OPCW draft report. Members of the State Duma said that this issue “raises
many questions and contains information that actually proves that the so-called
“poisoning” of Alexei Navalny was the result of a staged campaign to accuse
Russia of using a nerve chemical agent.”
“The document, in particular, says that the OPCW Technical Secretariat, at the request of Germany, sent its representatives to provide technical assistance in connection with his suspected poisoning on 20 August 2020. That was at the time when there were only first symptoms of deterioration of health of Alexei Navalny, and the diagnosis had not yet been made,” stressed Vasilii Piskarev.
“We consider these facts to be a real basis for additional investigation. In this regard, the Commission will appeal to the German Bundestag,” he said.
“We hope that members of the Bundestag will consider our appeal, and they will take the necessary decisive measures to encourage the German executive authorities to cooperate with the Russian law enforcement agencies, demonstrating transparency in establishing the truth. We should join our efforts and do everything possible to preserve the foundation of our cooperation that has been forming for decades and to contribute to the further development of political, economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation in the interests of the citizens of Russia and Germany,” stressed Vasilii Piskarev.
The Chairman of the Commission added that the parliamentarians also planned to appeal to the OPCW Director-General Fernando Arias González.
