4 hours agoEU not expected to impose sanctions on Russia due to Navajo
Periskopi(5 years ago)
(5 years ago)The European Union will not impose sanctions on Russia because of the arrest of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, nor will there be diplomatic retaliation due to this. At the EU foreign ministers' meeting, some countries had thoughts that new sanctions should be imposed on Moscow, but the chief of diplomacy [...]
At the EU foreign ministers' meeting, some countries had thoughts that the new sanctions should be imposed on Moscow, but European diplomacy chief Josep Borrell said no concrete proposals have been made “, says Politico with headquarters in Brussels.
The Council is, of course, willing to react and make appropriate decisions if the circumstances require it,” said Borrell, without specifying what circumstances would be needed for the EU's response.
According to him, no decision can be adopted today because there was no proposal on how to react to recent events in Russia.
Navalny was arrested last week after returning from Germany to Moscow. His arrest sparked protests in several Russian cities over the weekend, when more than 3,000 people were arrested.
The Council considers the mass arrests of demonstrators and police brutality to be completely unacceptable, and calls on Russia to release Navalny and all those arrested,” said after a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels today.
He added that he had not changed his plan to visit Moscow in early February at the invitation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
I have informed the Council that I intend to visit Moscow. It will be a good opportunity to discuss all important topics with my Russian colleague and to convey clear messages about the current situation and problems with human rights and freedoms, and we will certainly discuss bilateral relations,” said Borrell.
He added that the visit would help prepare him much better for the March summit of EU heads of state and government when relations with Russia would be on the agenda.
Although some European diplomats believe sanctions should be imposed on Russia if it does not release Navajo when his month-long detention expires on February 15th, but after today's meeting, it is clear that this will not happen in a predictable future, says Politico.
Asked if he would like to meet with Navajo during his visit to Russia, Borrell did not give a specific answer.
I would be very happy to see Navalny. I will try to get in touch with representatives of civil society in Russia, but we must keep in mind that there will be a visit to the Russian government,” he said.
