MOSCOW. Dec 11 (Interfax) - The incident involving opposition activist Alexei Navalny is being looked into, but it is impossible to begin a criminal inquiry due to the lack of materials, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"As to the high-profile cases, the poisoning of the known party. The check is underway. But we are unable to start a criminal inquiry due to the lack of materials," Putin said at a meeting with the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights.
The Russian Prosecutor General's Office has repeatedly asked colleagues at least to provide an official written analysis, Putin said. "Actually, they should have let our specialists join the common effort, as I have said and asked before. Our [representatives] are ready to go abroad, either to France, or to Germany, or to the Netherlands, in order to meet with the specialists alleging the discovery of war-grade toxins. But no one is inviting us," Putin said.
Russia has invited specialists to pay a visit, Putin said. "They do not visit us. They do not share official materials. They do not share biomaterials, either. What shall we do?" Putin said.