German Chancellor Angela Merkel does not rule out the possibility that the poisoning of the Russian opposition leader Alexej Navalny could have consequences for the realization of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

She thus supports an earlier statement by the German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.

Maas said in an interview with Bild am Sonntag that he did not hope that the Russians would force Germany to change its position on Nord Stream 2. The transport of Russian gas to Europe via the gas pipeline must be doubled.

Nord Stream 2 runs from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea. The project should be completed in the second half of this year.

Merkel previously said the Navalny case should not be linked to the near-completed gas pipeline project. According to her spokesperson, it is too early to determine what the consequences of the attack on Navalny would be.

The Kremlin critic is in a coma in a German hospital after becoming unwell on August 20 on a flight from Siberia to Moscow. In the German capital, he was found to have been poisoned with a nerve agent from the novichok group, while the Russians said he had not seen any poison.

According to Moscow, no crime has been committed. According to the Russians, the completion of the Nord Stream 2 project is also not in danger.