"If the United States is planning new sanctions regarding Russia's handling of military substances, I have many questions, starting from the circumstances of the case. I am a lawyer, so it is very important to me that any charges that are announced can be proven. At the moment, I am not certain they can be," Weil said.
The official, who took part in an event dedicated to Russian-German relations, said that new sanctions were not needed.
"We do not need more sanctions, we need more cooperation, more dialogue," Weil said.
The comment follows new sanctions against Russia announced by the US administration on Wednesday. The punitive measures have been explained by the US authorities by Russia's alleged use of a nerve agent to make an attempt on the life of a former Russian intelligence agent Skripal in the UK city of Salisbury.
Russian officials have strongly denied all allegations of Moscow's involvement in the attempt on the life of Skripal. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday it was too early to talk about possible countermeasures and reiterated that Moscow was in no way linked to what had happened in Salisbury. Peskov stressed that Russia had not been taken up on its offer of a joint investigation.
READ MORE: Moscow to Hit Back at Washington Sanctions With 'Mirror Measures'
The views and opinions expressed by Stephan Weil are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.
