EU leaders won't impose sanctions on Russia over Aleppo

PanARMENIAN.Net - The EU has pulled back from threatening Russia with immediate sanctions over the bombing of Aleppo as a UK-backed plan ran into opposition from Italy, The Guardian said Friday, October 21.

At a summit of EU leaders on Thursday, Britain, France and Germany made a last-ditch push to issue a sanctions warning to Russia if “current atrocities” in Aleppo continue.

Despite vocal support from Theresa May and her French counterpart, François Hollande, the plan failed to win the necessary unanimity to pass.

The EU’s three biggest countries had wanted to warn Russia that individuals and organisations linked to the bombing of Aleppo could face asset freezes and travel bans if the violence continues.

Arriving at the summit in Brussels, the British prime minister had urged fellow leaders to press the Kremlin to stop its “appalling [and] sickening” atrocities in Syria.

May told her counterparts over dinner that Russia posed a challenge to Europe’s democratic values and institutions, according to Downing Street sources.

But after talks finished around midnight a reference to sanctions in the summit communique was dropped and replaced with a more vague statement: “The EU is considering all available options should the current atrocities continue.”

Italy’s prime minister, Matteo Renzi, told reporters “it was difficult to imagine” this would mean further sanctions against Russia.

The tense debate ranged widely over tensions between the EU and Russia. Leaders discussed airspace violations, disinformation campaigns, cyber attacks and “interference” in the political processes of the EU, said Donald Tusk, the European council president.

“It is clear that Russia’s strategy is to weaken the EU,” he said. “Increasing tensions with Russia is not our aim. We are simply reacting to steps taken by Russia.”

Earlier in the week EU foreign ministers said Russia could be guilty of possible war crimes in Aleppo and agreed to widen sanctions against Syrians implicated in the bombing.