Merkel does not consider Navalny’s poisoning to be a matter of Germany and the Russian Federation: “This is an international issue”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the poisoning of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny goes beyond the scope of a private dispute between the two countries, since a nerve agent from the Novichok group was used to attempt to assassinate chief critic Vladimir Putin, and its use violates international agreements on the use of chemical weapons. The investigation into what happened, in her opinion, falls under the jurisdiction of the OPCW .