The European Union summoned the Russian charge d’affaires in Brussels, Kirill Logvinov, to inform him of its “indignation” after the death of Alexei Navalny in custody. The EU diplomatic service declared on Tuesday February 20 that the “responsibility” of the death of the Russian opponent in prison “ultimately lies with President Putin and the Russian authorities.” The Director General of the European External Action Service for Russia, Michael Siebert, “called on Russia to allow an independent and transparent international investigation” on the death of the opponent and “urged Russia to hand over the body of the deceased to his family without further delay and allow them to organize a funeral.”
On the occasion of this summons, the EU diplomat also “reaffirmed that Russia must immediately and unconditionally release all other political prisoners, as well as all those arrested across Russia, paying tribute to Alexei Navalny.” Follow our live stream.
Washington will announce new sanctions against Moscow. The United States is preparing to adopt a package of “major sanctions” against Russia after the death in prison of Russian opponent Alexei Navalny, the White House announced. “At the initiative of the president [Joe] Biden, we will announce a set of major sanctions on Friday to hold Russia accountable for what happened.” to the opponent, said John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security Council.
France asks “an independent and thorough investigation”. Paris holds the Russian authorities for “fully responsible”, of the disappearance in detention of this political figure, according to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Quai d’Orsay underlines that “the conditions of detention [de l’homme politique] had deteriorated significantly since his transfer to a penal colony..
Alexei Navalny’s widow “doesn’t care” about the Kremlin’s statements. “I don’t care how the killer’s spokesperson comments on my wordswrote Yulia Navalnaïa on the social network Return Alexei’s body and let us bury him with dignity, don’t stop people from saying goodbye to him.”
The opponent’s mother asks Vladimir Putin to hand over her son’s body. Lyudmila Navalnaïa called on the Russian president to hand over “without delay” the remains of Alexeï Navalny, in a video filmed near the penal colony where he was detained.