BRUSSELS: The EU agreed Wednesday to impose sanctions on six people and one entity over the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny with a Novichok nerve agent, diplomats told AFP.
Ambassadors from the 27 EU countries approved sanctions after France and Germany proposed measures last week, saying Russia was responsible for the poisoning.
In line with usual EU practice, those targeted by the sanctions — travel bans and asset freezes — will not be named until the measures take legal effect on Thursday, but they are likely to be Russian officials.
Paris and Berlin said last week they wanted to target individuals “based on their official function” and an entity “involved in the Novichok program.”
European powers have repeatedly asked Moscow to investigate the poisoning, which took place on Russian soil, but in a joint statement last week the French and German foreign ministers said the Kremlin had come up with “no credible explanation.”
The move to punish Russia came after the UN’s chemical weapons watchdog OPCW confirmed Germany, France and Sweden’s finding that Navalny was poisoned by a nerve agent of the Soviet-developed Novichok group.
A poison from the same group was used to attack former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in England in 2018 — an incident that prompted the EU to sanction four members of the Kremlin’s military intelligence.
The latest measures were signed off politically by EU foreign ministers on Monday, a move hailed by Germany’s Heiko Maas.
“I believe it is of paramount importance in the light of such a serious crime — a violation of international law and the chemical weapons convention — that the European Union shows unity, and it has done so today,” he said.
EU diplomatic chief Josep Borrell pressed Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the Navalny case during phone talks on Tuesday.
Borrell’s office said he called for Moscow to “do its utmost to investigate this crime thoroughly in full transparency” and cooperate with the OPCW.
Lavrov on Wednesday criticized the measures, accusing the EU of bowing to US pressure and “replacing the art of diplomacy with sanctions.”
“Of course the current policy of the EU will not go without consequences,” Lavrov warned at a news conference in Moscow.
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EU agrees Russia sanctions over Navalny poisoning
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EU agrees Russia sanctions over Navalny poisoning
- UN’s chemical weapons watchdog OPCW confirmed Germany, France and Sweden’s finding that Navalny was poisoned
- A poison from the same group was used to attack former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in England in 2018
Canada’s Carney hails ‘strategic partnership’ in talks with Xi
BEIJING: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Chinese President Xi Jinping began talks in Beijing on Friday, marking the first meeting between the countries’ leaders in China’s capital in eight years.
Carney lauded a “new strategic partnership” between the two countries after he arrived for the talks at the Great Hall of the People.
Following President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariffs on Canadian products, Carney has sought to reduce his country’s economic reliance on its main market, the United States.
Carney told Xi that “together, we can build the best of what this relationship has been in the past to create a new one.”
“Agriculture, energy, finance, that’s where we can make the most immediate progress,” he added.
Xi welcomed Carney and his delegation, saying that China-Canada relations were at a turning point after their last meeting at an APAC summit in October.
“It can be said that our meeting last year opened a new chapter in turning China-Canada relations toward improvement,” Xi told Carney.
“The healthy and stable development of China-Canada relations serves the common interests of our two countries,” he said, adding he was “glad” to see discussions over the last few months to restore cooperation.
Officials from both countries have been in talks to lower tariffs, but an agreement has yet to be reached.
Carney, who on Thursday met with Premier Li Qiang, is also scheduled to hold talks with business leaders to discuss trade.
Carney lauded a “new strategic partnership” between the two countries after he arrived for the talks at the Great Hall of the People.
Following President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariffs on Canadian products, Carney has sought to reduce his country’s economic reliance on its main market, the United States.
Carney told Xi that “together, we can build the best of what this relationship has been in the past to create a new one.”
“Agriculture, energy, finance, that’s where we can make the most immediate progress,” he added.
Xi welcomed Carney and his delegation, saying that China-Canada relations were at a turning point after their last meeting at an APAC summit in October.
“It can be said that our meeting last year opened a new chapter in turning China-Canada relations toward improvement,” Xi told Carney.
“The healthy and stable development of China-Canada relations serves the common interests of our two countries,” he said, adding he was “glad” to see discussions over the last few months to restore cooperation.
Officials from both countries have been in talks to lower tariffs, but an agreement has yet to be reached.
Carney, who on Thursday met with Premier Li Qiang, is also scheduled to hold talks with business leaders to discuss trade.
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