Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock sees relations with Russia as heavily burdened after the verdict in the case of the so-called zoo murder. “This murder on behalf of the state … represents a serious violation of German law and the sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Germany,” said Baerbock on Wednesday.
For this reason, she summoned the Russian ambassador and declared “two members of the diplomatic staff” of the representation to be undesirable persons. An open and honest exchange with Russia is heavily burdened by the process.
The Green politician referred to her phone call with her Russian colleague Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday, in which she said that Germany wanted and needed “an open and honest exchange with Russia” in the interests of both sides. However, this must be done on the basis of international law and mutual respect.
In any case, relations with Moscow are currently extremely tense, mainly because of the Ukraine crisis. Russian Ambassador Sergei Nechayev said on Twitter: “The absurd claim that Russia was involved in the Changoshvili murder has been continuously imposed on the public and woven into the general anti-Russian context without being substantiated with any tangible evidence.”
The Berlin Court of Appeal had sentenced the accused Russian Vadim Krasikow to life imprisonment for the murder of the Georgian Tornike Changoshvili in the morning. According to the verdict, Krasikow shot his victim in the middle of the Kleiner Tiergarten in Berlin in broad daylight in August 2019.
“In June 2019 at the latest, the central government of the Russian Federation decided to liquidate Tornike Changoshvili in Berlin,” said Judge Olaf Arnoldi. “That was and is nothing other than state terrorism,” emphasized the presiding judge of the Berlin Chamber Court. “A sign should be set.” Changoshvili is of Chechen descent and has been classified as a terrorist by Russian authorities. He is said to have fought against Russia in the Chechnya war.