The Foreign Ministers of the EU countries, following the results of the negotiations, prepared to impose sanctions against four high-ranking Russian security officials over the case of Alexei Navalny, the founder of the Anti-Corruption Fund (FBK, included by the Ministry of Justice in the register of organizations performing the functions of a foreign agent). Reuters reported.
It is noted that no specific names were named at the meeting, but, most likely, we are talking about the heads of the Investigative Committee, the Federal Penitentiary Service, the National Guard and the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas earlier on February 22 called for the continuation of a constructive dialogue with Russia, despite the clearly difficult situation in relations with the Russian state.
Earlier it was reported that Paris and Berlin may abandon tougher sanctions: for example, against the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline. At the same time, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg spoke out against excessive sanctions against Russia, urging “not to cut the branch on which we are sitting.”
In early February, the court changed Navalny’s suspended sentence in the Yves Rocher case to a real one, sentencing him to 3.5 years in a general regime colony. This decision drew strong criticism from Western countries.