BRUSSELS (BELGIUM) – Foreign ministers of the European bloc decided on Monday to slap sanctions on four senior Russian officials who are close to President Vladimir Putin in retaliation against the imprisonment of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
This decision will formally be approved by the bloc in early March. It came after France, Germany, Poland and the Baltic states urged the EU to send a message to Putin that debate and protest must be allowed in the country.
According to German foreign minister Heiko Maas, the decision was taken so that sanctions could be imposed quickly.
“The relations (with Russia) are certainly at a low, there is no other word for it,” Maas said.
The travel ban and freezing of assets would target Alexander Bastrykin, whose Investigative Committee handles probes into major crimes and reports directly to Putin.
Bastrykin has already been sanctioned by Britain over rights issues.
Another one to be targeted is Igor Krasnov, who was appointed prosecutor-general a year ago.
The third on the list is Viktor Zolotov, who heads the National Guard, and had publicly threatened Navalny with violence in September 2018. The fourth man is head of federal prison service Alexander Kalashnikov.
The curbs will be imposed under a new framework allowing the EU to take steps over human rights violators across the world, said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, adding that the sanctions could be ready in a week.
