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Russian opposition figure Navalny confirms Merkel visited him in Berlin hospital

Monday, 28 September 2020 10:28 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 28 September 2020 10:37 AM ]

Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny and his wife Yulia Navalnaya pose for a picture in an unknown location, in this undated image obtained from Instagram September 25, 2020. (Via Reuters)

Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny has confirmed media reports that German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited him in hospital during his treatment there.

He tweeted on Monday that the Chancellor had privately met with him.

Navalny, 44, took ill on a domestic Russian flight on August 20. He was later transported to the German capital, Berlin, where he received medical treatment.

He was discharged from inpatient care at Charite Hospital in Berlin last Tuesday, after 32 days of treatment, 24 of which were spent in intensive care, the hospital announced last week.

German magazine Der Spiegel was the first news outlet to report Merkel's visit.

Der Spiegel labeled Merkel's visit to the hospital as "secret." But Navalny disagreed, writing in his tweet that "there was a meeting, but you should not call it 'secret.'"

"Rather, it was a private meeting and a conversation with the family. I am very grateful to Chancellor Merkel for visiting me at the hospital," he said.

Later on Monday, Merkel's spokesman confirmed reports of the chancellor having paid a personal visit to Navalny in hospital last week.

Steffen Seibert declined to say how long the meeting had lasted or what had been discussed.

Germany claimed the Russian opposition figure had been poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent before his evacuation to Berlin. But the Russian doctors who tested his blood for poisoning before he was moved to Germany said the tests were negative.

Russia accuses West of using Navalny poisoning allegations as sanctions pretext

Russia accuses the West of using the alleged poisoning of opposition figure Navalny as a pretext to promote new sanctions against Moscow.

Western governments, however, have been insinuating that Russia was behind the alleged poisoning. The United States has threatened to impose more sanctions on Russia.

Russia has strongly denied all such accusations.

The Russian government has denied any involvement in any attack on Navalny, and has accused the United Sates of using the case as a pretext to hinder the construction of a Russian gas pipeline project to Europe known as Nord Stream 2.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a conference call on Wednesday that Russia was pleased to see that Navalny was making a recovery and had been discharged from hospital, adding he was free to return to the country like any other citizen.