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“Everything that is happening in Russia must be seen in the context of the next elections to the Duma. We are in the middle of the political season and almost all of Navalnas’ comrades have been deported or under house arrest,” L. Volkov said after a meeting with EU ministers by phone BNS.
“It is not just Navaln’s personal story, it is about Putin preparing for a big electoral platform in September,” Volkov said.
He said that he had discussed with EU ministers “personal sanctions targeting Putin’s closest allies and people guilty of serious human rights abuses, but not sanctions on the Russian economy that could be exploited by propaganda.”
Eight EU foreign ministers, ambassadors from most other countries and a representative from the European Commission attended a meeting with Ivan Volkov and another assistant to A. Navaln, head of the Ivan Zhdanov Anti-Corruption Fund, on Sunday night.
EU foreign ministers are due to announce a political consensus on Monday to impose sanctions on Russian officials for Navalna’s actions.
Navaln, a 44-year-old anti-corruption activist, was arrested on January 17 after arriving at a Moscow airport in Germany, where he was being treated for his nerve-paralyzing substance Novičiok after last summer’s poisoning. Mr. Navaln blames the Kremlin and the Federal Security Service for this poisoning.
Shortly after his return, the Russian courts imprisoned him for more than a year and a half. The European Court of Human Rights has demanded Navalna’s release, but Moscow has decided not to enforce the court’s ruling.
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