00:42Russia: Peskov dismisses media reports of Moscow’s involvement in Georgian citizen’s murder
Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitri Peskov dismissed suspicions that Russia could have something to do with the murder of a Georgian citizen in Berlin as "absolutely baseless", speaking with journalists during a conference call in Moscow on Wednesday.
"What does this have to do with the Russian authorities? These are absolutely baseless assumptions. This topic is somehow promoted by the German media, but this does not mean that this is the case," the spokesperson said.
He also said that it was unlikely the incident could affect the meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Paris next week at the Normandy Format summit.
Peskov's comments came before the German Foreign Ministry announced it had declared persona non grata two Russian diplomats based in Berlin in connection with the killing.
The victim, identified as 41-year old Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, also known as Tornike Kavtarashvili, was shot in Berlin on August 23 in the Kleiner Tiergarten park.
The Berlin police caught the suspected killer, who they identified as a 49-year-old Russian citizen, as he was reportedly trying to dispose of the murder weapon.
00:42Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitri Peskov dismissed suspicions that Russia could have something to do with the murder of a Georgian citizen in Berlin as "absolutely baseless", speaking with journalists during a conference call in Moscow on Wednesday.
"What does this have to do with the Russian authorities? These are absolutely baseless assumptions. This topic is somehow promoted by the German media, but this does not mean that this is the case," the spokesperson said.
He also said that it was unlikely the incident could affect the meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Paris next week at the Normandy Format summit.
Peskov's comments came before the German Foreign Ministry announced it had declared persona non grata two Russian diplomats based in Berlin in connection with the killing.
The victim, identified as 41-year old Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, also known as Tornike Kavtarashvili, was shot in Berlin on August 23 in the Kleiner Tiergarten park.
The Berlin police caught the suspected killer, who they identified as a 49-year-old Russian citizen, as he was reportedly trying to dispose of the murder weapon.