Lavrov stated that Russia will respond to potential sanctions that the United States may impose in connection with the case of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny.
In a press conference following talks with his Uzbek counterpart today, Lavrov answered a question about how Russia would respond if American sanctions were imposed, saying, "Of course we will respond. The rules of diplomacy have not been canceled, and reciprocity is one of these rules."
Earlier, Dmitry Peskov, the spokesperson for the Russian presidency, announced that the Kremlin believes that the policy of sanctions against Russia does not achieve its goals. Peskov told journalists, "We will be guided by our own interests. If we look at this issue in general, it is likely that those who continue to rely on restrictions in international relations should consider whether these restrictions have achieved their goals. Is this policy effective and does it achieve its goals? The answer will be clear: this policy does not achieve its goals."
Navalny was arrested in early January when he returned to Russia from Germany, where he had been since he was allegedly poisoned in August. Protests were organized in several cities across the country at his call, which were unauthorized. On February 16, 2021, the Strasbourg Court, under Article 39 of its rules, called on the Russian government to release Alexei Navalny, who a Moscow court had replaced a suspended sentence in a fraud case with an actual sentence earlier that February. The Kremlin then responded that the biased nature of the European Court of Human Rights' decisions raises many questions.
Last Saturday, a Russian court fined Navalny 850,000 rubles (about $11,400) in a defamation case involving a war veteran.
