France considers the sanctions imposed by the European Union against Russia insufficient. This was stated by the Secretary of State for European Affairs at the French Foreign Ministry, Clement Bon, quoted by TASS.
“The sanctions [against the Russian Federation] have already been introduced, but it is clear that they are not enough,” Bon said on the air of France Inter radio station, answering a question about sanctions against Russia in connection with the case of Alexei Navalny (founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation – FBK, included by the Ministry of Justice in the register of organizations performing the functions of a foreign agent). The French politician named the suspension of construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline as one of the options for restrictions against Russia, but stressed that the decision on the project should be made by Germany.
Earlier, MEPs voted for a resolution calling for the immediate blocking of the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline due to Navalny’s arrest. At the same time, Germany refused to link the project with the case of Alexei Navalny. German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said that German Chancellor Angela Merkel considers the gas pipeline project to be purely economic, and her position on this issue remains unchanged.
In mid-January, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the West’s statements about Navalny are “like a blueprint.” According to him, their main goal is to divert attention from the crisis in which the liberal development model finds itself. At the same time, the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov noted that the Kremlin does not intend to listen to the statements of Western countries regarding the detention and arrest of Navalny.
The detention of Navalny at the Sheremetyevo airport became known on Sunday, January 17. This happened on the basis of the decision of the head of the Federal Penitentiary Service in Moscow, according to which the oppositionist was put on the wanted list for systematic violations of the conditions of the probationary period. On January 18, he was arrested for 30 days. Before his arrest, he was in Berlin, where he was taken on August 22, 2020. Two days earlier, during a flight from Tomsk to Moscow, Navalny felt unwell, and the plane was urgently landed in Omsk.