Merkel Open to Action Against Nord Stream to Punish Putin
- Position reflects heightening tension after Navalny poisoning
- Russian opposition leader’s condition improves, doctors say
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Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the door to taking action against the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline as Germany and its allies mull a response to the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny.
Merkel’s rethinking of her sustained support for the controversial Baltic Sea pipeline underscores the escalating tensions with President Vladimir Putin’s government after German military specialists determined last week that Navalny had been poisoned by novichok, a Russian-developed nerve agent. The Kremlin critic began waking from a coma in a hospital in Berlin.