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The Russian Foreign Ministry did not give the exact reason for this decision, which comes in the context of mounting European criticism since European laboratories confirmed the poisoning of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny.
“More than once, the European Union has warned us of the destructive nature of its behavior,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, noting that the list of banned European individuals and organizations was expanded “to match” the list of the European Union.
“If the European Union continues with this confrontational approach, we will reserve our right to take appropriate measures,” the statement continued.
Without linking these sanctions to the alleged poisoning issue, the spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, condemned on Wednesday “the disinformation campaign on the Russian citizen Navalny, organized by Western countries, their leaders and official representatives.”
“We consider this speech simply unacceptable. There is no evidence” against Russia, he said.
The chancellor of the European Union recently spoke about the possibility of adopting a text that she calls the “Navalny Law” and being used as a vehicle for possible sanctions. Germany also said it is considering punitive measures.
The countries of the European Union also asked Russia to reveal the truth about what it considers an assassination attempt, to which Moscow refuses to do, considering that there is no evidence of having committed a crime.
Germany claims it detected a neurotoxic substance on Navalny that nearly killed it. However, this poison was developed during the Soviet era for military purposes, leading to finger pointing at Russian authority.
Moscow denounced “baseless allegations” and accused Germany of not sharing Navalny’s medical records.
