EU foreign policy chief says he will call for sanctions on Russia

European High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell endured some bruising criticism of his visit from MEPs.

Credit: Reuters

The EU’s foreign affairs chief has said he will call on the bloc to impose sanctions on Russia for the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny and the Kremlin crackdown on protesters demanding his release.

Josep Borrell faced calls to resign from MEPs in Brussels after a humiliating trip to Moscow, which ended with the expulsion of three European diplomats last Friday.

"It will be for the member states to decide the next step, but yes this could include sanctions and I will put forward concrete proposals," Mr Borrell said, as he attempted to draw a line under the fiasco.

EU foreign ministers will discuss sanctions, which must be unanimously supported by all member states, at their next meeting on February 22.

A number of eastern European countries have called for sanctions against Russia over the jailing of the top Kremlin critic for three years after he survived an assassination attempt. 

The EU’s chief diplomat was criticised in the European Parliament after failing to free or meet Mr Navalny or to robustly rebuff criticism of the bloc by Moscow during the visit, which was described as a Russian "trap".

Instead, he called on the EU to approve the Russian Sputnik vaccine in a chastening Moscow press conference, during which Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov branded the EU an “unreliable partner”. 

Mr Borrell, who demanded Mr Navalny’s release on the visit, insisted on making the ill-starred trip, which was the first by the EU’s envoy since  2017, despite opposition from some member states. 

On Tuesday, he said that the Kremlin had rejected his efforts to improve EU-Russia relations during the visit, which took place as Mr Navalny was hauled in front of a court to face fresh charges. 

"One thing became clear, there is no intention on the Russian side to engage in a constructive discussion if we address human rights and political freedom," Mr Borrell said. 

He admitted that “the media view and the majority view in this chamber” was that the visit was a mistake. He denied the expulsion of diplomats from Sweden, Poland and Germany for attending pro-Navalny demonstrations was his fault. 

Mr Borrell said, “I don’t think that it was wrong to go and say to them face to face what we say in writing.” 

He added, “Well it’s easier to stay at my desk writing statements, it would have been a much less risky and more comfortable.”

The EU hit six senior Russian officials with asset freezes and visa bans in October over the poisoning of Mr Navalny with a nerve agent. Mr Navalny blames Vladimir Putin for the chemical weapons attack.