Brussels\u00a0\u00a0 –\u00a0 The EU on Monday warned Myanmar\u2019s military rulers it was ready to impose sanctions over this month\u2019s coup, as foreign ministers also prepared to target those behind Russia\u2019s crackdown\u00a0on\u00a0Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ministers from the 27-nation bloc met in Brussels for a packed agenda that includes a wide-ranging videoconference with new US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shortly after the start, they issued a statement on Myanmar, saying \u201cthe EU stands ready to adopt restrictive measures targeting those directly responsible for the military coup and their economic interests\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They called for \u201ca de-escalation of the current crisis\u201d triggered by the February 1 military coup in Myanmar and demanded that the overthrown civilian government be restored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ministers did agree to move ahead and add 19 Venezuelan officials to a blacklist for \u201cundermining democracy\u201d and human rights abuses after the EU rejected legislative elections in December as undemocratic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There were also expectations they would pull the trigger on sanctions against Russian officials over the jailing of opposition leader Navalny and repression of his supporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any such move would come two weeks after EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell was caught in a diplomatic ambush in Moscow that enraged member states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Capitals are eyeing using the EU\u2019s new human rights sanctions regime for the first time to hit individuals responsible for the Russian clampdown with asset freezes and visa bans, diplomats said. \u201cIt\u2019s clear that Russia is on a confrontational course with the European Union,\u201d Borrell said, calling for a \u201cunited and determined\u201d response. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Targeted sanctions <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Diplomats said they expect a political agreement to be reached on punishing Russian officials — with the list of names to be worked out in the coming days.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere is a very large majority supporting the adoption of new sanctions,\u201d Romania\u2019s Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two of Navalny\u2019s closest associates called for the targeting of President Vladimir Putin\u2019s closest allies — including oligarchs — after meetings with eight EU foreign ministers in Brussels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf it\u2019s just ten Kremlin officials who don\u2019t travel abroad and don\u2019t have assets abroad, then, indeed, it would not be painful,\u201d Navalny\u2019s key aide Leonid Volkov said. European diplomats say only those directly implicated in the clampdown can be targeted because the list needs to withstand any court challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The mood towards Moscow has hardened in the wake of Borrell\u2019s disastrous trip to Russia, during which Moscow announced the expulsion of three European diplomats and rebuffed talk of cooperation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The EU has already hit Russia with waves of sanctions over the 2014 annexation of Crimea and Moscow\u2019s fuelling of the war in Ukraine. The bloc in October slapped six officials on a blacklist over the August poisoning of Navalny with Novichok, a nerve agent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Putin\u2019s most prominent domestic critic was this month jailed for almost three years after returning to Russia following treatment in Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His sentencing sparked nationwide protests that saw baton-wielding security forces detain thousands of people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Brussels\u00a0\u00a0 –\u00a0 The EU on Monday warned Myanmar\u2019s military rulers it was ready to impose sanctions over this month\u2019s coup, as foreign ministers also prepared to target those behind Russia\u2019s crackdown\u00a0on\u00a0Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. The ministers from the 27-nation bloc met in Brussels for a […]<\/p>\n
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