Russia will certainly respond to new sanctions from the United States in connection with the situation around Alexei Navalny (founder of the Anti-Corruption Fund, included by the Ministry of Justice in the register of organizations performing the functions of a foreign agent) if they are introduced. A similar reaction from Moscow to the restrictions announced by Washington was revealed by the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry Sergei Lavrov, Interfax reports on Tuesday, March 2.
“Answer – we will definitely answer … Nobody canceled one of the rules of diplomacy – reciprocity,” Lavrov explained.
According to him, foreign partners, instead of honestly cooperating with Russia in the Navalny case and at least somehow substantiating their statements, continue to “darken” and punish Moscow. “This does not honor anyone who makes such decisions,” the minister stressed.
Previously, possible sanctions from the United States were assessed in the Kremlin. According to the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov, the policy of imposing sanctions against Russia, which a number of countries adhere to, does not achieve its goals and is ineffective.
Reuters, citing its own sources, reported that the United States plans to impose sanctions against Russia due to the situation with Navalny as early as Tuesday, March 2. Prior to this, representatives of the White House told CNN about the impending sanctions against Moscow. According to them, such a decision will be coordinated with the European Union (EU). The new restrictions are expected to affect both individuals and legal entities.
In early February, the Simonovsky Court of Moscow replaced Navalny’s suspended sentence with a real one for violating the conditions for observing the probationary period in the Yves Rocher case. The UFSIN asked to appoint him a sentence of imprisonment in a colony for a period of 3.5 years. Navalny was charged with 60 violations of public order after a suspended sentence and given him 2 years and 8 months in prison, taking into account the year spent under house arrest during the preliminary investigation in the Yves Rocher case. Later, his sentence was reduced and he will spend 2 years and 6 months in the colony.