EU sanctions Syria, Russia officials over chemical weapons use

The European Union yesterday imposed sanctions against nine Syrian and Russian officials for their involvement in chemical weapons attacks in war-torn Syria.

The decision was made during a meeting of the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council at its headquarters in the Belgian capital, Brussels.

The decision also includes five officials of the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Centre namely; Tariq Yasmina, Khaled Nasri, Walid Zughaib, Firas Ahmed and Said Said for their role in developing, producing and concealing chemical weapons used by the Syrian regime.

The EU said in a statement that the Russian officials; GRU Officer Anatoliy Chepiga, GRU Officer Alexander Mishkin and First Deputy Heads of the GRU Vladimir Stepanovich Alexseyev and Igor Olegovich Kostyukov have been found responsible for the possession, transfer and use of nerve gas used in the attack on former Russian agent, Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yuli,a in the city of Salisbury, UK, last March.

READ: US warns Syria against use of chemical weapons after it’s pull-out

The sanctions include a travel ban and freeze of assets in the EU as well as a ban on the transfer of funds to them.

Britain expelled 23 Russian diplomats following the attack on Skripal, which Moscow denies responsibility for.