Brussels Edition: The Russia Conundrum

Welcome to the Brussels Edition, Bloomberg’s daily briefing on what matters most in the heart of the European Union.

Josep Borrell risks leaving pretty much everybody unsatisfied on his visit today to Moscow — the first by an EU foreign-policy chief since 2017. Top of the agenda is a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to express EU outrage at the jailing of opposition leader Alexey Navalny. Hanging over the trip is whether the EU has the stomach to use the Navalny controversy to trigger a new tool for blacklisting foreign officials over human-rights violations. With Borrell himself arguing for deeper EU cooperation with Russia to tackle regional and global challenges, and Germany urging prudence on any punitive steps, don’t expect an answer to the sanctions question at least until the bloc’s leaders weigh ties with Russia in March.