Foreign Office Minister Says It Is "Premature" To Talk About More Russian Sanctions

A Foreign Office minister said it was too early to comment on the prospect of further sanctions on Russia as the Government said it believed Russia was “fully responsible” for the death of political activist Alexei Navalny.

Leo Docherty, Minister for Europe and North America, told the House of Commons that “those responsible” for Navalny’s death must be held accountable for their actions. He assured MPs that the Government was looking in to what steps it should take next.

US President Joe Biden in 2021 said there would be “devastating consequences” for Russia if Navalny died at the hands of the Vladimir Putin regime. 

Docherty said Navalny was a hero for millions and gave many of its citizens as a voice.

“The Russian authorities saw him as a threat. President Putin feared to even speak his name,” he said.

“Putin's Russia, imprisoned him on fabricated charges, poisoned him and sent him to an Arctic penal colony.

“Navalny was a man of huge courage and iron will. Even from his remote prison, he persisted in advocating for the rights of the Russian people.

“No one should doubt the doubt the dreadful nature of the Russian system.”

Stephen Doughty, Labour’s Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister, said Navalny was “another victim” of the oppressive system which Putin had built in Russia.

He asked the Government whether it would review further sanctions on Russia, and added that would it consider targeting those responsible for “facilitating and enabling international corruption?”

Docherty said he would not comment on further sanctions but claimed the Government was “working at pace” and looking in to “all options”.

Navalny was the country’s leading opposition figure and was serving a long prison sentence in some of Russia’s most notorious