‘The veneer of democracy is all that remains in Russia,’ EU foreign policy chief Kallas says. Brussels pledges new sanctions after State Duma elections.

The European Union is preparing new sanctions against Russia over its recent elections to the State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament. The measures will target election organizers and candidates who ran in Ukraine’s occupied territories, as well as anyone Brussels considers responsible for undermining free elections inside Russia, the bloc’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said in a declaration published on the Council of the EU’s website.