Alexei Navalny Confirms ‘Private’ Meeting With Angela Merkel in Hospital

Two of Vladimir Putin’s sworn enemies—German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny—met in hospital this month while Navalny was recovering from a nerve-agent attack. The meeting, which was initially reported by Der Spiegel and then confirmed by Navalny on Monday, happened at the Berlin hospital where he was treated for 32 days after being flown from Russia, where the poisoning took place. Navalny disputed Der Spiegel’s phrasing that the meeting was “secret,” writing that it was a “private meeting and conversation with the family.” He added: “I am very grateful to Chancellor Merkel for visiting me at the hospital.” Navalny was discharged from hospital last week. Der Spiegel wrote that Merkel’s visit was a message to the Kremlin that Berlin will “not give in and will find out the truth.”