OREANDA-NEWS. The story of the alleged poisoning of Alexei Navalny was invented by the West to maintain the image of Russia's aggression, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

As Zakharova said on the First Channel, “A story was invented with the alleged poisoning of Navalny with chemical weapons, and all this was attributed to Moscow. Everything is banal, just like that. And this story immediately again returns public opinion in Western countries to the factor of alleged aggression by Russia, leads political science thought into the mainstream - how can Russia continue to contain, and much explains why it is necessary to do this and not otherwise, why NATO budgets need to be transferred to even greater militarization. "

Meanwhile, the EU states may begin to agree on plans to impose sanctions on the Russian Federation in connection with the situation with Alexei Navalny, as reported by Bloomberg, relying on diplomatic sources.

It is assumed that the consent from the representatives of the EU Foreign Affairs Council will be the first step towards the introduction of sanctions in March.

Restrictive measures, as the agency points out, will not affect Russian entrepreneurs, since Europe "fears to burn all bridges with Moscow."

According to Bloomberg, some officials and organizations will take the main sanctions blow.