EU's Top Diplomat Faces Some Russia Questions: Brussels Edition

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

The EU’s top diplomat faces some rough treatment in the European Parliament today over his trip to Moscow in the wake of Russia’s jailing of opposition leader Alexey Navalny. Josep Borrell choosing this moment for the first visit by an EU foreign-policy chief to Moscow since 2017 was always going to provoke objections from eastern member states wary of any outreach. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s flagrant exploitation of a joint press conference with Borrell on Feb. 5 for propaganda purposes didn’t help. Behind all the noise lie two quiet truths: the EU has a penchant for realpolitik, and a desire for as much first-hand information as possible about President Vladimir Putin’s Russia before the bloc’s leaders discuss ties with the country — and possibly more sanctions against it — in March.