Kremlin accuses US of meddling after 3,500 protesters detained
MOSCOW: The Kremlin on Sunday accused the United States of interfering in Russia’s domestic affairs and downplayed the scale of the weekend’s protests, when tens of thousands rallied in support of jailed opposition politician Alexei Navalny.
More than 3,500 demonstrators were detained in protests across the country on Saturday, with several injured in clashes with police in Moscow, following Navalny’s call to rally against President Vladimir Putin’s 20year rule.
The West has widely condemned the ‘harsh tactics’ used against demonstrators, with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian saying Sunday the mass arrest of protesters was ‘an intolerable affront’ and a ‘slide towards authoritarianism’.
Polish President Andrzej Duda has called for the European Union to step up sanctions against Russia over the treatment of Navalny, the Financial Times reported Sunday.
“The only way to (avoid conflict) is to force international law to be observed. The only way to do this without rifles, cannons and bombs is via sanctions,” Duda told the FT.
The Polish leader also said EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell should re-consider plans to visit Russia next month unless Navalny is released.
EU foreign ministers are due to consider their response to Navalny’s detention on Monday, with Borrell saying the ‘next steps’ will be discussed.
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Sunday accused the US embassy of interfering in Russia’s domestic affairs after the mission distributed a ‘demonstration alert’ to US citizens in Russia recommending they avoid protests.
“Of course, these publications are inappropriate. And of course indirectly, they are absolutely an interference in our domestic affairs,” Peskov told a state TV channel.
A US mission spokeswoman said US embassies and consulates around the world routinely issue safety messages to US citizens.
“This is a common, routine practice of many countries’ diplomatic missions,” she told AFP on Sunday.
The US embassy in Moscow on Saturday said that Washington supported ‘the right of all people to peaceful protest, freedom of expression’.
Peskov also accused protest organisers of seeking to ‘rock the boat’ and said the number of people who had demonstrated paled in comparison to Putin supporters.
“A lot of people vote for Putin,” Peskov said, pointing to last year’s constitutional plebiscite that allowed 68-yearold Putin to remain in power until 2036.
Navalny, Putin’s most prominent critic, was arrested on returning to Moscow last weekend following months of treatment in Germany for a near-fatal poisoning with a Soviet-designed Novichok nerve agent.
He then called for Saturday’s unauthorised protests, which took on an unprecedented geographic scale, spanning more than 100 cities.