Updated Monday, March 18, 2024-23:20

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The

foreign ministers of the European Union (EU)

agreed this Monday

to sanction thirty individuals and entities

in relation to the death in prison of the Russian opposition leader

Alexei Navalny.

In a press conference at the end of a

Council of community ministers

in the field, the

high representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security, Josep Borrell,

reported that they will be sanctioned under the general EU regime of restrictive measures for violations of human rights.

The sanctions will become more effective later after their publication in the

Official Journal of the EU,

and include a ban on travel to the EU for affected people and the freezing of any funds they may have on EU territory.

In a statement,

the EU did not recognize this Monday the results of the Russian presidential elections

held in the occupied territory of Ukraine for violating international law.

Regarding the elections in Russian territory, which once again gave victory to

Vladimir Putin,

they pointed out that they took place "in an increasingly reduced political space, which has translated into an alarming increase in human rights violations." civil and political", and in which many candidates were prevented from running, including all those who opposed the war in Ukraine.

"There is a clear difference in holding elections in someone else's house and holding them in your house," Borrell commented at the press conference, in which he added that "it rains in the wet" in Russia in that context and that "

fake elections" were held. '(false)

in the sense that there is no freedom of expression or alternative candidates.'

"We know what elections are like in

Russia,

but if they are held in a territory that belongs to the neighboring country, then double condemnation," he commented.

The declaration of the Twenty-seven on the Russian elections, however, does not indicate whether or not the EU recognizes the elections in the internationally recognized Russian territory.

Asked about this at a press conference, the Spanish Foreign Minister,

José Manuel Albares,

responded that Russian President Vladimir Putin "cares very little" what the EU thinks about the legitimacy of the elections.

However, Albares reiterated that the electoral process in Russia has been "very far from what in

Spain

and in the European Union we understand by democratic elections with guarantees."

Asked directly about whether Spain recognizes the results of the elections in Russia, he stressed that Putin "does not care what the European Union and the countries of the European Union think."

"Our position regarding the sanctions that have been taken around Alexei Navalny and his death, and the support we are giving to Ukraine shows where the European Union is, which is together with those who defend freedom, pluralism, sovereignty and territorial integrity and the sovereign equality of the States," he stated.

The European ministers heard this Monday from their Ukrainian counterpart,

Dmitro Kuleba,

the situation in their country, and formally approved the assistance fund for Ukraine,

endowed with 5 billion euros

for this year within the framework of the

European Peace Support Fund (FEAP).

Borrell assured that this will give predictability to the EU's military support for Ukraine, which will continue to be guided by the needs expressed by

Kiev

and will contemplate joint purchases, bilateral aid or even the training that the Ukrainian military receives through the European mission dedicated to it. .

"The Ukraine assistance fund is to help Ukraine. Not to develop European industry, it is to help

Ukraine,"

he emphasized.

On the other hand, the head of community diplomacy said that today he appreciated "strong consensus" although not unanimity to advance the use of the extraordinary benefits generated by Russian assets frozen in the EU due to sanctions for the invasion of Ukraine. and that he hopes to present a proposal in this regard with the

European Commission.