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DISINFO: UK sanctions on Russia are illegal

DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS

AI translations:

Tags:

United Nations Sanctions Alexei Navalny novichok OPCW Chemical weapons/attack European Union Maria Zakharova

DISINFO: UK sanctions on Russia are illegal

SUMMARY

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stressed that the unilateral sanctions imposed by the UK on Russia over the Alexei Navalny case are "illegal", as they have not been approved by the UN Security Council.

Russia has repeatedly called on Britain and its partners to provide evidence in the Navalny case, but they ignored those calls.

RESPONSE

Recurrent pro-Kremlin narrative which disputes the UK's imposition of sanctions on Russia, insisting that the United Nations Security Council is the only relevant international actor who can do so, while claiming that Moscow is still waiting for evidence regarding the poisoning of Alexei Navalny.

Restrictive measures have been imposed by the EU in relation to the poisoning of Navalny since 2020, with the UK being a member of the Union at that time.

As of 1 January 2021, after the end of the Brexit transition, the UK sanctions regime in relation to Russia is set out in the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (SI 2019/855).

The UK government has made it clear that it will continue to implement the EU’s Chemical Weapons sanctions regime at the end of the Transition Period, through its own autonomous UK Chemical Weapons sanctions regime.

On a similar note, the EU has the competence to impose sanctions independently of the UN to further the objectives of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), namely a) promoting international peace and security, b) preventing conflicts, c) supporting democracy, the rule of law and human rights and d) defending the principles of international law, as the EU did in the case of the illegal annexation of Crimea. The poisoning of Navalny falls in the context of applying restrictive measures (sanctions) to support democracy, rule of law and human rights.

Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny fell ill during a flight from Siberia to Moscow on the 20th of August. Initially hospitalised in Omsk, at the request of his family he was transferred to Charité hospital in Berlin, where clinical findings indicated that Navalny was poisoned by Novichok. This was also confirmed by France and Sweden, and later on by the OPCW (which Russia is also a member of).

Furthermore, Germany also informs Russia via diplomatic channels on the progress of the investigation.

See similar cases in our database claiming that the EU destroyed relations with Russia; or that the Navalny poisoning could be a strategy of the West to introduce anti-Russian sanctions; or that only traces of alcohol and caffeine were found in Navalny's blood; or that the US used Navalny case to block Russian vaccine; or that Western accusations on Navalny’s case are as false as they were about Sergei Skripal and Alexander Litvinenko.

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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