France and
Germany said on Wednesday they would propose
European Union sanctions against
Russian individuals after receiving no credible answers from
Moscow over the poisoning of
Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny with a nerve agent.
Several Western governments have said
Russia, which has denied accusations by Navalny that it was involved in poisoning him in August, must help in investigations or face consequences.
The decision and speed with which Europe's two main powers agreed to push ahead with sanctions suggested a hardening of the bloc's diplomacy towards Moscow, which in turn said that it no longer considered "business as usual" to be possible with
Berlin and
Paris.