BRUSSELS, February 6. /TASS/. EU diplomats got in contact with the lawyers of Alexey Navalny convicted in Russia during the visit of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission Josep Borrell to Moscow, the European External Action Service (EEAS) said in a press release on Saturday.

"[Borrell] stated that EU Foreign Ministers would discuss the implications of Mr. Navalny’s sentencing and further EU action, having already imposed sanctions over the prohibited use of a chemical weapon, at this month’s Foreign Affairs Council. During Mr. Borrell’s visit, EU diplomats maintained contact with Mr. Navalny’s lawyers," it says.

The press release says that Borrell reiterated in Moscow that "the European Union expects Mr. Navalny’s immediate and unconditional release, along with those arbitrarily detained in recent demonstrations."

On Tuesday, Moscow’s Simonovsky Court converted Alexey Navalny’s suspended sentence in the Yves Rocher case into a real prison term at a hearing in the Moscow City Court. Navalny will serve his term in a minimum security penal colony. He will be kept at a pre-trial detention center until the ruling comes into effect.