Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Bradford for raising this important matter. The murder of the prominent Russian opposition leader, Boris Nemtsov, in central Moscow early on Saturday morning was a brutal and cowardly act which was met with widespread shock and disbelief. I have already expressed my sadness at Mr. Nemtsov's death and extended my sympathies to his loved ones. His murder highlighted the vulnerability of opposition figures in Russia at the moment where any form of criticism of the government is seen as an act of disloyalty.

Tributes have poured in for Mr. Nemtsov who served his country with distinction in many roles, including as former deputy Russian Prime Minister under President Yeltsin. He was a courageous champion of democratic reforms and a strong advocate for a more open and tolerant Russia. His loss will be deeply felt not just in Russia, but around the world. The high esteem in which Mr. Nemtsov was held was evident in the size of the crowd that attended a vigil in his honour on Sunday. Tens of thousands of people across a wide range of political parties and movements turned out to mourn his loss and pay tribute to his legacy as a fearless reformer who was not afraid to speak out against the direction that Russia was taking and the policies being pursued by the current government. Large numbers of mourners also attended his memorial service and funeral earlier today. Ireland was represented at both of these events by our ambassador to Russia.

A spokesperson for President Putin said that he had written to Mr. Nemtsov's mother promising that he would personally oversee the investigation into her son's murder. Much speculation surrounds the motives for Mr. Nemtsov's murder. For this reason, it is all the more crucial that the Russian authorities promptly conduct a full and transparent investigation into his killing and that the perpetrators of this callous crime are brought to justice. There should be no culture of impunity in the face of such a crime.

It is also important that the rights to freedom of assembly and expression that Mr. Nemtsov fought so fearlessly to defend are recognised and fully protected. He had been a vocal critic of Russia's actions against Ukraine. In fact, the vigil on Sunday in honour of Mr. Nemtsov replaced an opposition demonstration which he had been instrumental in organising to protest against the state of the economy and Russia's role in the destabilisation of Ukraine.That destabilisation has included the illegal annexation of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol last March. While Russia has officially denied any involvement in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, there is ample evidence that Moscow has been facilitating the supply of fighters and weapons across the border with Ukraine to the rebels.

The European Union has been at the forefront of international efforts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine and Ireland has participated actively in shaping the Union's approach. We have consistently called on Russia to use its considerable influence on the separatists to end the violence in eastern Ukraine and to support the search for a political resolution to the crisis.

I firmly believe that carefully targeted sanctions are an effective means of encouraging Russia to play a more constructive role in reaching a peaceful settlement to the conflict in Ukraine. This is why Ireland supported the European Union's unanimous decisions to introduce economic sanctions against Russia in July and to further strengthen these measures in September. We have always said that the restrictive measures are scalable. They can be strengthened or eased depending on developments on the ground and progress towards the objectives set by the European Union when we put the existing measures in place.

The issue of Russia and Ukraine has been a regular feature of European Union Council meetings and is likely to remain so for the weeks and months ahead, foreign Ministers will return to the matter at their informal meeting in Riga this weekend. Heads of State and Government will also discuss the issue at the next meeting of the European Council on 19 and 20 March in Brussels.