Speaker of the Russian State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin (right) speaks with Federal Security Service Director Alexander Bortnikov (left) before the Security Council meeting in Moscow on March 7, 2019. (ALEXEY NIKOLSKY / SPUTNIK / AFP)

MOSCOW - The speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament on Tuesday ordered one of its committees to probe whether foreign forces were behind the alleged poisoning of opposition politician Alexei Navalny in a bid to fuel tensions in Russia.

The State Duma security committee will be instructed to analyse what happened in order to understand whether this was an attempt on the part of foreign states to harm the health of a Russian citizen to fuel tensions inside Russia, as well as to formulate fresh accusations against our country. 

Vyacheslav Volodin, Russian State Duma Speaker

“The State Duma security committee will be instructed to analyse what happened in order to understand whether this was an attempt on the part of foreign states to harm the health of a Russian citizen to fuel tensions inside Russia, as well as to formulate fresh accusations against our country,” speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said in a statement.

The Kremlin said earlier on Tuesday it saw no need for now to investigate the circumstances leading up to Navalny’s grave illness and that a German clinic’s initial diagnosis of poisoning was not yet conclusive.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday called on Russia to investigate the suspected poisoning and to hold the perpetrators accountable after German doctors found indications of a toxic substance in his body.

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the German clinic had not conclusively identified the substance behind Navalny’s illness and that it was unclear why German doctors were “rushing” to use the word poisoning.

“There must be a reason for an investigation. For the moment, all you and I see is that the patient is in a coma,” Peskov told reporters on a conference call.

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“If the substance is identified and it is determined it was a poisoning, then, of course, this will be a reason for an investigation,” Peskov added.

Demands for a probe are intensifying, with Sweden’s Foreign Minister Ann Linde on Tuesday saying on Twitter that the “circumstances regarding the suspected poisoning of @navalny need to be clarified by independent investigation.”

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Late on Monday, top European Union diplomat Josep Borrell also asked Russia to investigate.

Navalny was airlifted to Germany for treatment on Saturday after collapsing on a plane while flying back to Moscow from Siberia.

German doctors treating Navalny at a Berlin hospital said on Monday that medical examinations indicated poisoning with some kind of cholinesterase inhibitor, although the specific substance is not yet known.

Russian health officials contradicted that diagnosis, saying Navalny had tested negative for cholinesterase inhibitors when he was hospitalized in Omsk last week.

READ MORE: Kremlin says opposition leader Navalny not a threat in election

Peskov said doctors at the Omsk hospital had battled for three days to treat Navalny and had possibly saved his life.

“We don’t understand why our German colleagues are rushing with the word poisoning,” he said.

Peskov said any suggestions that Putin was somehow involved in Navalny’s illness was “hot air”, which the Kremlin would not take seriously.

Germany said on Monday Navalny was being guarded due to concerns for his safety. Navalny’s wife was filmed entering the hospital on Tuesday but declined to speak to journalists.