Moscow-Sana
The Russian Foreign Ministry announced today that Moscow will respond to European Union sanctions against it over the Alexei Navalny case.
"On the basis of the principle of reciprocity, a decision was taken to expand the list of representatives of European Union member states banned from entering Russia," a ministry statement reported by RIA Novosti said, adding that "Notes verbales were presented by the Russian Foreign Ministry and this step was reported to the heads of diplomatic missions of Germany and France. Sweden was also sent to the European Union mission in Moscow.
The statement emphasized that the countries that started this step did not provide any evidence in this case, not only to the Russian authorities, despite their repeated appeals, but even to their European Union partners.
Earlier today, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned a number of diplomats from European countries because of its position on the Navalny case and the sanctions imposed by the European Union on Russia.
And the European Union decided last October to impose sanctions on personalities and institutions in Russia that the bloc considered to be responsible for the alleged poisoning of Navalny.
Last October, the Russian Foreign Ministry reaffirmed that the Navalny case was just a pretext to impose long-standing sanctions on Russia.