EU ‘Set To Sanction’ Four Russians Over Navalny Jailing, Clampdown

EU foreign ministers on February 22 agreed to fresh sanctions against “specific persons” over Russia’s jailing of opposition politician Aleksei Navalny and a crackdown on his allies, according to German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.

The Russian Foreign Ministry responded by saying it was “disappointed” at the bloc’s move and accusing the EU Foreign Affairs Council of invoking a “far-fetched pretext” to prepare “new unlawful restrictions on Russian citizens.”

Moscow also rejected as “categorically unacceptable” outside demands for the release of a Russian national convicted by a Russian court, as Navalny has been in processes that he and Western governments have said are politically motivated.

Top diplomats from the EU’s 27 members gathered in Brussels were weighing targeted measures against Russian individuals and institutions, such as asset freezes and visa bans, under the bloc’s newly created sanctions instrument to punish human rights violators.

“The relations are certainly at a low, there is no other word for it,” Maas said in Berlin after returning from the meeting with his counterparts in Brussels. “Therefore, we decided today to impose further sanctions and list specific persons.”

Anonymous diplomatic sources were quoted by multiple agencies as saying ministers had agreed behind closed doors to punish four senior, unnamed Russian officials tied to the Navalny case and clampdown.