New round of sanctions against Russia. The 27 countries of the European Union have decided to take sanctions against thirty Russian individuals and entities after the death in prison of political opponent Alexeï Navalny, the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell announced on Monday.
Information to remember
⇒ New round of sanctions against Russia
⇒ Putin welcomes annexation of Ukrainian territories
⇒ The leader of the European radical left says it is “time to negotiate”
EU countries adopt sanctions against Russia after Navalny’s death
“We have agreed on sanctions against those responsible for the murder of Alexei Navalny,” declared Josep Borrell after a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday. The head of diplomacy did not specify the identity of these people or which Russian entities were involved. These sanctions, similar to those already taken by the United States and Canada, provide for a freeze of assets in the EU and a ban on travel to the territory of the Union for individuals.
The United States announced on February 23 its largest round of sanctions since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, including some against three Russian officials due to their involvement in the death of the Russian opponent. The latter died in his Arctic prison on February 16.
Putin welcomes annexation of Ukrainian territories while celebrating victory
Vladimir Putin on Monday welcomed the “return to the homeland” of the Ukrainian territories occupied by Moscow. He was cheered by a crowd gathered in Red Square, where a concert was taking place celebrating the 10th anniversary of the annexation of the Crimean peninsula, the first act of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, after its very broad re-election following an unopposed presidential election. Vladimir Putin, in power for almost a quarter of a century, collected 87.28% of the votes at the end of this election which was held from Friday to Sunday, including in the regions of Ukraine where Moscow claimed annexation.
Welcomed by the crowd with cries of “Russia! Russia!”, Vladimir Putin, accompanied on stage by his three presidential opponents, assured that his country would go “forward, hand in hand” with the territories conquered in Ukraine. “The return to the homeland turned out to be more difficult, more tragic, but we succeeded and it is a great event in the history of our state,” Vladimir Putin said in a short speech before singing the Russian anthem in unison with the crowd, at the foot of the Kremlin walls.
Erdogan congratulates Putin and insists on a ‘negotiated outcome’ in Ukraine
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “congratulated” his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday on his re-election and once again offered to mediate with Ukraine, the presidency announced. In a telephone call, “President Erdogan assessed that the positive development of relations between Turkey and Russia would continue and said that Turkey was ready to play a facilitating role in bringing (her) to the negotiating table with Ukraine,” the Turkish presidency said in a statement.
“This war must stop,” added the head of Turkish diplomacy Hakan Fidan, interviewed on the private television channel CNN Türk on Monday evening. “On both sides, tens of thousands of mothers are burying their children and it continues. Both parties have too much to lose and nothing to gain,” he insisted, saying he feared “a risk of proliferation” of the conflict in the region. Ankara has been careful to maintain relations with both kyiv and Moscow since the start of the war in Ukraine and has, on several occasions, offered its good offices for a negotiated exit from the conflict between the two countries, bordering like Turkey on the black Sea.
For the leader of the European Left party it is time to negotiate
The leader of the main European radical left group, Walter Baier, said it was “time to negotiate” to end the war launched by Russia against Ukraine, giving his “total support” to the recent remarks of the Pope Francis. “I believe that helping the Ukrainian people means making efforts to try to end the war,” declared this 70-year-old Austrian communist, nominated at the end of February as candidate for president of the European Commission by the Party of the European Left (PGE) of which he is president.
Walter Baier then recalled the deaths and destruction caused by two years of war and added that the front in Ukraine was “frozen.” “I would like the European Union […] make diplomatic efforts to begin negotiations to achieve a ceasefire and obtain the withdrawal of Russian troops,” he continued.