Political pressure on Russia, already high due to the country’s ongoing war against Ukraine, rose further on Monday as numerous EU countries, plus the U.K., summoned Russian diplomats to account for Navalny’s death.
Since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine the EU has hit Russia with multiple rounds of sanctions, though many have proven ineffective or easy to circumvent.
Borrell said at a press conference that ministers have agreed to rename the EU’s human rights sanctions system as the “Navalny regime on global human rights sanctions,” though this change must still go through a technical stage.
Borrell’s statement also indirectly accused Russia of being behind a 2020 assassination attempt on Navalny using the banned nerve agent Novichok.
Navalnaya said Monday in a video posted on X, formerly Twitter, that her husband was killed with Novichok. She has vowed to continue his work.
Russia has denied killing Navalny.