EU announces new sanctions against Russian and Syrian individuals with links to chemical weapons use and Skripal’s poisoning

The EU has targeted individuals in Syria and Russia with links to chemical weapons attacks. The bloc has been discussing the new sanctions regime since late last year, prompted by the Skripal poisoning in the UK.

The EU on Monday imposed sanctions for the use of chemical weapons for the first time. The sanctions target those accused of orchestrating chemical weapons attacks in Syria and individuals linked to the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Britain last year.

Moscow has been accused by European governments of being involved in the nerve agent attack on the former Russian double agent in the British city of Salisbury. The Russian government has repeatedly denied the charge.

But the incident caused ripples across the EU and in October 2018, it led the bloc to draft the new sanctions package to target people and entities involved in chemical attacks.