Senior German MP: Nord Stream 2 must be part of response to Navalny poisoning

A European response that involves the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is needed against Russia after the poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny with a Soviet-style Novichok nerve agent, a senior German lawmaker in Chancellor Angela Merkel's party said.

"There must be a European response," Norbert Roettgen told Deutschlandfunk radio on Thursday. "We must pursue hard politics, we must respond with the only language (Russian President Vladimir) Putin understands - that is gas sales," he said.