EU’s Top Diplomat Demands Navalny Release in Tense Moscow Talks
- Borrell says ties at ‘low point’ over jailing of Putin critic
- Russia rejects Western criticism of crackdown on opposition
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The European Union’s foreign policy chief repeated demands for the release of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny at talks in Moscow overshadowed by President Vladimir Putin’s sweeping crackdown on dissent.
“It has been an intense discussion,” Josep Borrell told reporters at a news conference alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday after the first visit by a top EU official since 2017. “My visit coincides with the arrest and sentencing of Alexey Navalny and the arrest of thousands of demonstrators. As you can expect, I have conveyed to Minister Lavrov our deep concern and reiterated our appeal to his release.”