Myanmar's military leadership has been warned it faces European Union sanctions after replacing the government of Aung San Suu Kyi. The EU also announced additional measures against Russia in response to the jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

The bloc's foreign ministers were meeting in Brussels on Monday to discuss a packed agenda including a videoconference with the new U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Shortly after starting, the group issued a statement on Myanmar, saying: "The EU stands ready to adopt restrictive measures targeting those directly responsible."

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They called for "a de-escalation of the current crisis," which has seen large protests in favor of imprisoned former leader Suu Kyi.

The country's army, which ruled Myanmar from 1962 until 2011, reclaimed power after declaring that November elections, in which Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) took the lion's share of the vote, were fraudulent.

Suu Kyi was later detained, along with much of the party leadership. Myanmar's Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said 640 people have been arrested so far, including former members of government and opponents of the army takeover.

The move triggered the country's biggest street protests in more than a decade, with those against the military rule organizing a general strike and mass protests on Monday.

Britain, Germany and Japan are among the countries to have condemned the crackdown against dissenters, while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the military to "stop the repression."

On his arrival in Brussels, Germany's Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said: "We will also prepare ourselves for the eventuality that we do not succeed in contributing to the de-escalation and, as a last resort, reserve the right to use sanctions against the military regime in Myanmar and be ready to do so." 

Russian sanctions 

The ministers also agreed to slap largely symbolic sanctions on four senior Russian politicians in a bid to send a message to the Kremlin that protest must be allowed in Russia.

No names were discussed during the meeting, but diplomats said Russia's head of the Investigative Committee, which handles inquiries into major crimes, the director of its National Guard, the director of prisons and the prosecutor general were to be hit.

"These will be targeted, proportionate and legally based sanctions," a senior diplomat said, adding EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell now has to officially put forward the names in the coming days.

Although Navalny's aides called for the bloc to target members of Russia's business elite with penalties, EU governments have said hitting senior officials would better withstand legal challenges.

"If it's just 10 Kremlin officials who don't travel abroad and don't have assets abroad, then, indeed, it would not be painful," Navalny's key aide Leonid Volkov said.

The opposition leader was detained after coming back to Russia from Germany in January, where he had been recovering from being poisoned with a nerve agent.

Navalny was later jailed on February 2 for violating the terms of parole on what he says was a politically motivated conviction. In October, the EU put six Russian officials on a blacklist over the poisoning.

The Russian government has rejected Navalny's allegations, including the claims it was responsible for his poisoning and has accused the EU of meddling in its affairs. 

The EU's decision to move ahead with sanctions comes two weeks after EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell's trip to Russia, criticised by some members of the European Parliament as a humiliation. 

During his trip to Moscow, the Kremlin announced the expulsion of three European diplomats and brushed off suggestions of renewed cooperation. 

"It's clear that Russia is on a confrontational course with the European Union," said Borrell, who has since called for a "united and determined" response.