Yulia Navalnaya speaks to EU27 foreign ministers in Brussels
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pledged on Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin would hold Russian President Alexei Navalny to account after he met with the widow of an opposition leader and Kremlin foe. Responsibility for death.
Navalny’s death in an Arctic prison last week shocked Russia’s exiled opposition, which has joined Western countries in pointing the finger at the Kremlin.
Josep Borrell wrote on Responsible for Ni’s death.”
“As Yulia said, Putin is not Russia. Russia is not Putin. We will continue to support Russian civil society and independent media.”
Navalnaya addressed foreign ministers from the 27-nation European Union in Brussels and vowed to continue her husband’s fight against Putin’s vicious grip on Russia.
European diplomats said she drew a standing ovation as she reaffirmed her determination to continue the fight and called on the EU to do more to target Putin’s circle.
She also warned against making any deals with the Russian leader or wanting him to change, they said.
EU ministers at the meeting were weighing their limited options to make the Kremlin pay a new price for his death.
The EU has already imposed unprecedented sanctions on Moscow, including Putin, over its invasion of Ukraine, and officials acknowledged it would be difficult to inflict further significant pain in the wake of Navalny’s death.
But Borrell said he expected EU member states to propose new sanctions against those directly responsible for Navalny’s treatment, including on Russia’s prison system.
He said Brussels would rename its global human rights sanctions blacklist after Navalny in a symbolic move.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock said ministers would “launch further sanctions” over Navalny’s death.
“Russia’s brutal war of aggression … is not just a war against Ukraine, but a war against freedom itself,” she said.
Other ministers said the death of Putin’s biggest domestic foe should bolster support for Kiev as its armed forces work to contain Russia.
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Çakna said: “Putin is a murderer. Putin murdered a man who fought for freedom and democracy, and that is why we must move on.”
“The clearest response is if we end up doing our job. We have to support Ukraine.”
This was echoed by Belgian Minister Hajja Rahbib, who warned that Navalny’s death highlighted the threat posed by the Kremlin in its offensive against Ukraine.
“We have to realize what’s at stake today,” she said.
“If Russia succeeds in its expansion, it is a dictatorship that will expand and move closer to the EU.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
