The Foreign Ministry of Russia expressed disappointment over the decision of the Council of the EU on foreign affairs on the preparation of new targeted sanctions against the Russian citizens due to the arrest and sentence of oppositionist Alexei Navalny as the ministry stated.

Axar.az reports citing foreign media that Russian diplomacy considers unacceptable the demands on the ‘release’ of a citizen of the Russian Federation. The Foreign Ministry states that Navalny was sentenced for economic crimes by the Russian court in the territory of Russia in accordance with the Russian legislation.

“Another wrong step of the Council of the EU is made in terms of unprecedented warm-up on the eve in the EU of the anti-Russian information background. The reason is the talks of High Representative of the EU J. Borrell on February 5 in Moscow announced by western mass media ‘ineffective’ and ‘demeaning’ and it was followed by the number of urges to build up the sanction pressure against our country,” the message said.