European Union foreign ministers were weighing Monday whether to impose sanctions on Russian officials and organizations blamed for the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny with a Soviet-era nerve agent.
The ministers, meeting in Luxembourg, are considering a proposal from France and Germany to freeze the assets of those suspected of involvement and ban them from travelling in Europe under sanctions to combat the use and spread of chemical weapons.
Navalny, an anti-corruption investigator and major political opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, fell ill on August 20 during a domestic flight in Russia. He was flown to Germany for treatment two days later and is still recovering there.
Last week, tests conducted at labs designated by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons confirmed that Navalny was the victim of a Novichok nerve agent.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Monday that given the OPCW’s findings, it is now “objectively clear that this is a breach of the Chemical Weapons Convention, one that cannot remain without consequences.”
In a statement on Friday, France and Germany said that despite repeated calls Russia has provided “no credible explanation” for what happened and that “there is no other plausible explanation for Mr Navalny’s poisoning than a Russian involvement and responsibility.”