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Diplomats did not name or provide further information on those who will be subject to sanctions, but the move appears to disappoint those who have called for strong retaliation against Moscow.
Navaln’s comrades and European lawmakers asked participants at the ministerial meeting in Brussels to target the oligarchs who financed Vladimir Putin’s regime.
However, diplomats said that this punitive measure, which will be applied for the first time under the new EU sanctions regime for human rights violations, is aimed at those directly involved in the crackdown.
“These are specific, proportionate and legally binding sanctions,” said a senior diplomat.
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Joseph Borrell, must now officially announce the names of those who will be sanctioned in the coming days, the source said.
“Clear evidence is needed”
During a press conference on Monday, Borrell confirmed that a political agreement on sanctions against Russia had been reached.
“In response to the events surrounding Mr Navaln, we have reached a political agreement on the development of restrictive measures against those responsible for his arrest, prosecution and verdict,” said the EU head of diplomacy.
“I hope everything is decided soon. It may take you a week. I hope not more,” he added, but did not mention any specific last names.
Josepas Borrell
The media previously cited sources who said the sanctions could be announced to Alexander Bastyrkin, head of Russia’s Investigative Committee, Viktor Zolotov, head of the National Guard, Attorney General Igor Krasnov, and Alexander Kalashnikov, director of the Federal Penitentiary Service. (FSIN). .
The head of community diplomacy explained that the EU could impose sanctions on the people directly involved in the situation with Mr Navalnu.
“Sanctions require clear evidence that the person was directly involved in the events we are considering,” Borrell said.
“We cannot impose sanctions just because we don’t like something,” he added, responding to a journalist’s question about why the EU did not want to think about sanctions against Russian companies.
Navalno’s comrades ask to target the oligarchs
The position on Moscow hardened after Borrell’s failed trip to Russia, during which Moscow announced the expulsion of three European diplomats.
According to Borrel, his trip to Russia made EU member states aware of the need to impose sanctions on Russia.
The EU has repeatedly imposed sanctions on Russia on several occasions for the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and incitement to war in eastern Ukraine.
In October, the bloc added six officials to the list of sanctions related to the poisoning of A. Navalnas last year with the nerve paralyzing substance Novičiok.
Putin’s most prominent critic was sentenced to more than two and a half years in prison this month after returning to Russia after receiving treatment in Germany.
The verdict has also sparked mass protests in many Russian cities, during which thousands of people have been detained by security forces.
Navaln’s close partners met with eight EU foreign ministers and several community ambassadors in Brussels on Sunday and called for sanctions against Putin’s closest allies, including oligarchs.
“If only 10 Kremlin officials do not go abroad and do not have funds abroad, it will certainly not be very painful,” Leonid Volkov, one of these comrades, told reporters.
Myanmar, Venezuela
Before making a decision on Russia, EU foreign ministers said the Community was “ready” to impose sanctions on officials directly responsible for the military coup in Myanmar.
The ministers called for “the reduction of the current crisis” caused by the military coup of February 1 and the return of the civilian government in the country.
The ministers also agreed to add 19 Venezuelan officials to the EU sanctions list for “undermining democracy” and human rights abuses following the Community’s declaration of undemocratic parliamentary elections in December.
Ministers also discussed the ongoing crackdown in Belarus, and the EU is considering a fourth package of sanctions against President Aliaksandr Lukashenko’s regime.
The meeting also discussed China’s actions against pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong, assessing whether the EU should toughen up its response to Beijing’s increasingly tough measures.
During the first full-fledged distance talks with the Community, the head of US diplomacy Antony Blinken, the focus was on cooperation between the two sides to ease tensions that had risen during the term of former US President Donald Trump.
They should consider the possibility of forming a united front against common opponents such as Russia and China, as well as efforts to return the United States to the circle of countries that adhere to the agreement with Iran on its nuclear program.
The EU is currently hoping to hold a meeting in Washington, Tehran and other signatories, including Russia, to discuss how to salvage the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), from which Trump withdrew in 2018.
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