and demanded Navalny’s immediate release. The EU will meet to discuss next steps. The U.S. expressed condemnation.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Borrelli tweeted on Saturday that the EU will hold a ministerial meeting next Monday to discuss the EU’s next move. Several EU member states, as well as the European Parliament, have already called for new sanctions against Russia, but new sanctions would require a unanimous decision by the 27 countries.
European Council President Michel previously spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone and demanded “the immediate release of reactionary leader Navalny. Michel also expressed to Putin the EU’s “extreme concern” about Navalny’s situation and called on Moscow to unconditionally respect his rights.
The United States on Saturday condemned Russia’s crackdown on demonstrations and demanded the immediate release of those arrested. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of the Russian capital Moscow and several cities on Saturday in response to opposition leader Navalny’s call for his release. The authorities deployed a large number of police officers to arrest the demonstrators.
AFP correspondent reported live that 20,000 demonstrators took part in protests in Moscow and St. Petersburg, respectively, and that Saturday’s demonstrations extended to more than a dozen Russian cities. In Moscow, demonstrators clashed repeatedly with police, who beat them with batons, while protesters threw snowballs at them.
Some 250,000 to 300,000 people took to the streets across Russia, “on an unprecedented scale,” according to Volkov, a member of Navalny’s team, who spoke to AFP. According to the NGO, some 2,400 people were arrested, and in Moscow alone, 937 people were arrested. AFP also quoted another NGO as saying that the number of arrests exceeded 3,400.
Russia’s Interior Ministry said about 4,000 people participated in an unauthorized march in central Moscow that police earlier threatened to suppress in advance.
An EU foreign policy spokesman expressed concern about the mass demonstrations in Russia and deplored the widespread arrests and use of excessive force against protesters by Russian authorities, as well as the cutting off of Internet and telephone networks. EU foreign ministers will discuss their next steps on Monday.
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