The EU is imposing further sanctions on Syria and Russia
The European Union on Monday imposed sanctions on the use of chemical weapons.
The sanctions targeted the head of the Russian military intelligence service and his deputy, whom Britain accuses of a nerve gas attack on its territory last year, as well as other Russian officials and five Syrians.
Russia has threatened the European Union to “respond” after the new sanctions.
“We reserve the right to respond to this hostile act”, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
In addition to freezing the assets of Russian officials and imposing a travel ban on them, the bloc announced the imposition of sanctions on the Syrian Agency for presumed chemical weapons and five Syrians, according to a statement of the European Union.
In its statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry again questioned the accusations against Russia under the Skripal case, and denounced the “intelligence campaign” of the British government “coincides with a new crisis in the Brexit negotiations”.
The EU said that, the Russians were responsible for the “possession, transfer and use” of nerve gas used in the attack on former Russian agent Sergei Skripal in the British city of Salisbury in March.
Brussels said the two agents were charged with traveling under two false names, Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Pusherov, but the sanctions decision confirmed reports they identified as Anatoly Shibiga and Alexander Mishkin, aged 39.
Its inclusion on the sanctions list was expected, but the decision to target the military intelligence leadership, the head of the agency Igor Kostyukov and his first deputy, Vladimir Alexeyev, makes it even more important.
“This decision is part of the European Union’s efforts to combat the proliferation and use of chemical weapons, which pose a serious threat to international security”, the statement issued after a meeting of foreign ministers of the bloc.
“I am confident that the member states have made the decision on a very strong legal basis”, EU foreign minister Federica Mugherini said, stressing that the measure would “stand up to court investigations”.
In turn, British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt welcomed the decision, the first under a new EU sanctions regime focused on stopping the use and proliferation of banned chemical weapons.
“The new sanctions today fulfill our commitment to crack down on the irresponsible and irresponsible activities of the Russian military intelligence agency”, he said.
Russian agents were accused of poisoning former Russian spy Skripal and his daughter in Britain last year by using the Novichok nerve gas developed in the Soviet Union.
Moscow, for its part, denies any involvement in the operation.
The Salisbury attack considered the first aggressive use of chemical weapons in Europe since World War II, sparked international outrage and prompted many Western countries to expel dozens of Russian diplomats.
Skripal and his daughter survived the attack, but a woman died in June after her boyfriend gave her a bottle of perfume found and believed by British investigators to have been used to transport the Novichok gas.
Moscow has repeatedly denied the charges and has offered numerous, alternative and counter-accusations.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Piskov earlier downplayed reports that Petrov and Bossirov might be targeted.
“They are in doubt for no good reason”, Piskov said.
He confirmed that the pictures published by the British authorities during a visit to Britain at the time of the attack do not prove anything.
“There are a lot of pictures of Russian nationals in Britain and this is not direct evidence.
We don’t know any realistic and coherent evidence, and therefore we are dealing with such decisions in a negative way”.
With regard to the Brussels sanctions against Syrian officials, the sanctions targeted the Center for Scientific Research and Studies, its president Khalid Nasri, Colonel Tariq Yasmina, Walid Zagayd, Colonel Firas Ahmed and Said Said.
Reports indicate that Yasmina is the liaison officer between the research center and the palace of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, and others are believed to be senior agents in the development and production of chemical weapons.
On the other hand, the Council of the European Union extended its sanctions on Syria.
Where the Council of the European Union announced the expansion of the list of sanctions imposed on Syria by adding 11 businessmen and 5 companies to the black list.
The European Union’s foreign affairs council said in a statement on Monday that 11 prominent Syrian businessmen and five entities were on the list of those subject to restrictions against the Syrian government and its supporters.
These are businessmen and companies working in the field of real estate that carry out projects that support or benefit the Syrian government.
The list of sanctions against Syria now includes 270 people and 72 entities under a travel ban and assets freeze.
The sanctions include the current union against Syria, the ban on the sale of oil, restrictions on some investments and the freezing of assets of the Central Bank of Syria.
The European Union sanctions package, which has been steadily strengthened from 2011 to 2014, is one of the most important sanctions in the history of the European Union.
It includes almost all kinds of European trade contacts with Syria, especially in the oil and petroleum products trade.
In addition, there are sanctions imposed on the leadership of Syria (the broad black list includes, in particular, President Bashar Al Assad, the majority of his family and relatives), and there is a total ban on financial transactions with Syria.
