Kremlin warns EU against linking bilateral ties to Navalny case
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Russia hoped the European Union would not link its ties with Russia to the case of opposition politician Alexei Navalny and said it would respond in kind to any harsh criticism over the matter from the European Union.
Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell is due to visit Moscow on Feb. 4-6 at a time when ties between Moscow and Brussels are strained by the Navalny case.
A court in Moscow is on Tuesday considering whether to jail Navalny, a prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin, for up to three and a half years for alleged parole violations.
The Kremlin said that Moscow would not be lectured on the matter by Brussels.
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Andrew Osborn)
