Following Navalny’s passing, the PM of Ukraine demands more sanctions on Russia

TOKYO: Following the passing of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Ukraine’s prime minister Denys Shmyhal urged the European Union and Japan on Tuesday to impose further economic penalties on Russia.
Following Navalny’s murder in a distant Russian prison colony, many EU countries, including Germany, Lithuania, and Sweden, demanded specific additional punishments. US President Joe Biden also sent a warning to Moscow that it may suffer repercussions.

In Tokyo, Denys Shmyhal visited Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to discuss rebuilding in Ukraine. “We ask to implement this sanction on economic issues, in economic spheres and in political spheres on personalities,” he said at a news conference.
Shmyhal went on to say that Kyiv was hoping to get support from the US Congress for an assistance package that would provide military support to the Ukrainian troops who are struggling to find ammunition, particularly long-range weapons that can be used to attack Russian supply lines.

“We are fighting for democratic values for all the democratic world, this is an existential war of democracy against autocracy,” he said.
Russia said on Sunday that it has gained control of the Ukrainian town of Avdiivka, marking its largest victory since Bakhmut’s collapse in May. The invasion of Ukraine was launched by President Vladimir Putin almost two years ago to the day.
This Russian achievement coincided with ongoing wrangling by US politicians over military assistance for Kyiv.

Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson, a Republican, has said that his chamber would not discuss a $95.34 billion military assistance package for Israel and Ukraine that has already been approved by the Senate in a hurry.
Japan’s government has thus far committed more than $10 billion in financial help to Ukraine; but, since it prohibits the sale of deadly weapons, it has not given any military support.