Merkel privately visited Russian opposition leader Navalny in hospital after Novichok poisoning

Alexei Navalny met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a Berlin hospital where he was recovering from a poisoning that kept him in a coma for weeks, he has revealed. Mr Navalny was discharged from the Charite hospital in Berlin on Wednesday after spending weeks on a ventilator in a medically induced coma. The German media outlet Der Spiegel on Monday quoted unnamed sources saying that Chancellor Merkel went to see Mr Navalny in hospital in a sign of solidarity. The 44-year old Russian politician confirmed the reports later in the day, insisting that there was nothing “secret” about the meeting. “It was more of a private meeting and conversation with the family,” he tweeted. “I’m very grateful to Chancellor Merkel for seeing me in hospital.” He did not say when the meeting took place or offer any details. The top Kremlin critic fell suddenly ill on the plane from Siberia to Moscow at the end of August. Several European laboratories independently confirmed that he was poisoned with the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok which was used in the 2018 attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal.

source https://news.yahoo.com/merkel-privately-visited-russian-opposition-084907942.html