Boris Johnson’s government has called for the “immediate and unconditional” release of Alexei Navalny
The British government does not rule out that new sanctions may be imposed on Russia because of the situation around opposition activist Alexei Navalny.
This, as reported by Reuters, said the United Kingdom Minister of State for Europe Wendy Morton.
“We are constantly considering the possibility of imposing new sanctions,” she said, speaking in the House of Commons on January 27.
But in response to a call from a British MP to exclude the Russian delegation from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Morton said she would not discuss future sanctions “because it might undermine their effectiveness.”
“Mr. Navalny was the victim of a heinous crime, and we call for his immediate and unconditional release,” the official said.
Wendy Morton also condemned the violence against protesters in support of the opposition leader that took place in many Russian cities.
In addition, she said, there can be no normalization of bilateral relations between Moscow and London as long as Russia continues to behave the way it is behaving now.
Recall that the European Union has not yet imposed sanctions because of Navalny’s arrest and reprisals against the demonstrators who supported him, but this scenario is not ruled out.
