The head of European diplomacy reaffirmed his desire to fight against Russia and support the opposition to the power of Vladimir Putin
The position is very clear. The European Union must send a “message of support” to the Russian opposition after the death of its leader Alexei Navalny in prison, the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell said on Monday in Brussels.
“We must send a message of support to the Russian opposition,” Borrell said before a meeting of EU foreign ministers to which the Russian opponent’s wife, Yulia Navalnaya, was invited. “As a tribute to Navalny and to honor his memory, we will propose to ministers to rename our human rights sanctions regime with his name,” Borrell added.
“The main culprit is Putin himself,” he stressed. Several European ministers discussed the implementation of new sanctions against Russia after the death on Friday of President Putin’s main opponent in his prison in the Russian Arctic.
“A dictatorship that will expand”
“We will implement new sanctions,” said German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. “This is the minimum we can do,” added his Lithuanian counterpart Gabrielius Landsbergis. “Putin is a murderer. Putin assassinated a person who fought for freedom, for democracy, and this is exactly why we must move forward,” also in our support for Ukraine, declared the Estonian minister. of Foreign Affairs, Margus Tsahkna.
And for several ministers, the best way to weaken the Russian president is to help Ukraine, which will enter its third year on Saturday. “We need to realize what is at stake today. If Ukraine is invaded, if Russia manages to expand, it is a dictatorship that will expand and move a little closer to the European Union,” warned Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja. Lahbib.
“We have to wake up” or risk “not hearing very good news” in the future, Landsbergis stressed. The Ukrainians continue to demand more ammunition, shells and missiles, to resist the advance of Russian forces, after the withdrawal, announced on Saturday, of kyiv forces from the town of Avdiïvka, in the east of the country. When the Ukrainian forces fire one shell, the Russian forces fire six, said the Lithuanian minister for whom “the problem is the ammunition and equipment”, not the “bravery” of the Ukrainian forces.
This article is originally published on sudouest.fr
