Zakharova said that if the German government was "sincere in their statements", then Berlin should promptly respond to a Russian Prosecutor General's Office request to exchange information about the situation with Navalny sent on 27 August.
"So far, there is no certainty that a double game is not being played in Germany, because the Berlin Justice Department, which is responsible for considering issues of providing legal assistance, received the Russian Prosecutor General's Office's request from German authorities. Where is this 'urgency' that you insist on? … By not sending a response, Berlin is slowing down the investigation it is calling for. Is it being done on purpose?", Zakharova told reporters.
"We are ready to interact with the German side 24 hours a day. I would like to remind you that when Russian ambassador [Sergei Nechaev] was at the German Foreign Ministry, he asked if there was any specific data that the Russian side coulg get familiar with to advance the investigation [into the Navalny case], but nothing was transferred to him. The situation remains the same today", she noted.
Earlier this week, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that Berlin expects Moscow to act regarding Navalny's case as soon as possible, adding that Germany will coordinate a response with its partners if Russia fails to investigate the matter. Maas has also claimed that there were many indications that Moscow was behind the incident with the opposition figure, which Russia denied.
Navalny is currently undergoing treatment in a German hospital after becoming gravely ill in Russia in late August. German doctors claimed they found traces of a substance from the group of cholinesterase inhibitors in his body, which Russian medics denied, citing the patient's test results. They said that no traces of poison had been found and suggested that his condition was caused by an abrupt drop of glucose in his blood due to a metabolic imbalance.
