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Thirteenth package of EU restrictions could be approved on Wednesday
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Hungarian minister says Budapest won't veto it
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Germany leads calls for extra Navalny-related sanctions
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First indications suggest those would be 'symbolic'
(Updates with final statement, adds Hungary won't block package)
By Gabriela Baczynska
BRUSSELS, Feb 19 (Reuters) -
The European Union on Monday moved closer to new sanctions against Moscow over its war on Ukraine, as Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russia's top opposition leader who died in prison last week, said President Vladimir Putin must be held accountable.
Germany, Lithuania and Sweden were among EU countries calling for specific new penalties against Russia over the death of Alexei Navalny in a remote penal colony in Russia's Arctic.
That came during a meeting of the 27 EU foreign ministers, which had been scheduled before Navalny's death, to discuss a package of fresh penalties to mark two years since Russia's unleashed a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.
Hungary, the last EU country needed to pass the proposed new restrictions against nearly 200 more firms and people deemed involved in the war, said it would not stall the bloc's 13th package of Russia sanctions since Moscow invaded Ukraine.
The EU's top diplomat suggested that Russian prison officials linked to Navalny's death could be added to the list of those subjected to asset freezes and travel bans.
There was no immediate word of any more hard-hitting measures that could target Russia's broader economy and an EU diplomat said so far it seemed any specific new sanctions related to Navalny's death would be "symbolic" and come later.
"The EU will spare no efforts to hold Russia's political leadership and authorities to account, in close coordination with our partners; and impose further costs for their actions, including through sanctions," EU foreign ministers said in a joint statement after their meeting with Navalnaya in Brussels.
They said Putin and Russian authorities held the ultimate responsibility for the death of Navalny and called for "an independent and transparent international investigation".
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said she hoped the 27-nation EU would agree on the package of sanctions soon. EU officials say that could happen on Wednesday.
"We have seen the brutal force with which the Russian president represses his own citizens who take to the streets to demonstrate for freedom or write about it in newspapers," she said. "We will propose new sanctions in light of the death of Alexei Navalny."