Europe changes Navalny dossier: “symbolic” sanctions against Russia

European countries maintained a safe distance from Russia, after the bloc carried out some of its threats in the context of poisoning Russian dissident Alexei Navalny in a way that would save his face in the face of mounting pressure from the American ally in terms of blowing up or freezing the “Northern Torrent 2” project to extend a Russian gas pipeline to Germany. The European-British (symbolic) sanctions against some Russian officials fell short of the level of high Western tone, which was accompanied by European-Atlantic requests for an international investigation of the case, demonstrating Moscow’s responsibility in the recent incident that had place on Russian soil, but it seems to mean, That Europe wants to complete this file without poisoning relations with the Russians, or damaging the energy alliance.

The European Union sanctions published yesterday were divided into two burning files: the first is the case of the poisoning of Navalny with the nerve gas “Novichok”, and the second is the intervention of Russia in the Libyan war. While the Kremlin warned that European countries, through its movement, had damaged relations with Moscow, Britain announced that it would implement sanctions from the bloc, after representatives of the 27 member states approved the sanctions proposed by France and Germany. last week, and for holding Russia responsible for poisoning. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov considered the measures as a European acquiescence to US pressure, after “replacing the art of diplomacy with sanctions”, and stressed that “the current policy of the Union will not go without consequences.” In the same direction, came the Kremlin’s comment, as indicated through its spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, that “with this step, the European Union damaged relations with our country”, describing the actions of the bloc as a “hostile step. “for his part, and committing to respond. He also considered the move illogical, as it puts relations between the European Union and Moscow “to the test for a person that Europe believes is a leader of the opposition.”

The Kremlin: The European Union “put relations with Moscow to the test”

On the issue of the Libyan conflict, the European Union considered that the wealthy Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is on the US sanctions list, is “undermining peace” in this country by supporting the private security group “Wagner”. Its official announcement stated that Prigozhin “provides support to the Wagner Group’s activities in Libya, which threaten peace, stability and security in the country.” The decision means banning Prigozhin from traveling to European Union countries and freezing any assets that belong to him in the bloc. The same sanctions apply to six prominent officials who were included in the new black list published yesterday by the European Union and the British Foreign Office, in the context of the Navalny poisoning case, and they are: the director of the Federal Service of Security, Alexander Portnikov, the first deputy director of the administration of Russian President Sergey Kiriyenko, and the head of the Directorate of Internal Policy In the administration of President Andrei Yarin, the envoy of the Russian president to the Siberian region, Sergey Minyilo, and the Russian Deputy Defense Minister Pavel Popov and Alexei Krivoruchko. The European Union considered that “it is logical to conclude that the poisoning of Alexei Navalny would not have been possible without the approval of the Office of the Executive Presidency”, noting that Yarin was part of a special force charged with the task of countering the influence of Navalny discrediting it. The sanctions also affect a Russian institution, the State Institute for Biochemical Research and Technology, as it is responsible for destroying the arsenal of chemical weapons that Russia inherited from the Soviet Union.

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