Germany Welcomes Cooperation Signals From Russia, But Decision To Expel Diplomats Remains

BERLIN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th December, 2019) Germany is glad to see that Russia is ready to cooperate regarding the murder of a Georgian citizen, but the decision to expel two Russian diplomats from Berlin remains intact, German Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Adebahr said at a briefing on Wednesday.

"We are glad to receive signals of cooperation and decisions from Russia that they are ready for collaboration, for this, specific steps and detailed cooperation are needed. Nothing is changing in our position and in the decisions we have taken so far," Adebahr said.

She confirmed that the German government did not have evidence that Russia requested extradition of the Georgian citizen in the past.

Moreover, a spokesman for the German government, Steffen Seibert, said on Wednesday that Germany called on Russia to cooperate and provide information regarding the killing.

"We made our expectations clear on different levels and we intend to see now whether this will lead to cooperation from the Russian side," Seibert said.

In August, the 40-year-old Georgian national, identified in the media as Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, was shot dead in one of Berlin's parks. The prosecution stated that the victim had fought Russia's Federal troops in Chechnya alongside separatist militias from 2000-2004.

Germany stated that either Russia or government officials in its Chechen region were behind the killing, and two Russian diplomats in Berlin were declared personae non gratae over the incident.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has described Germany's allegations as groundless and hostile. Moscow has denied the accusations, vowing to respond in kind to the expulsion of its diplomats.