EU sanctions nine Russian, Syrian officials

European Union sanctions Russia’s military intelligence chief over poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury.

BRUSSELS - The European Union imposed chemical weapons-related sanctions Monday against nine Russian and Syrian officials, including the chief of Moscow's powerful GRU military intelligence agency.

The EU accused the Russians - two agents and the head and the deputy head of the GRU - of the "possession, transport and use" of the nerve agent used in the attack in Salisbury, England last March.

Sanctions had been expected against two alleged Russian agents, who use the alleged pseudonyms Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov and are said to have travelled to Salisbury to carry out a failed assassination.

But the decision to target the GRU leadership - identified by British officials as agency chief Igor Kostyukov and his deputy Vladimir Alexseyev - ups the stakes in the dispute.

In addition to an assets freeze and travel ban for the Russian officials, Europe announced sanctions on an alleged Syrian chemical weapons agency and five Syrians, EU states said in a statement.

"This decision contributes to the EU's efforts to counter the proliferation and use of chemical weapons which poses a serious threat to international security," a statement said, after EU foreign ministers met.

Full details of those targeted were to be placed in the EU Official Journal later Monday.

"I'm confident member states took the decision on a very strong legal basis," said EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, stressing that the measure would "resist the tests of the courts."

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt welcomed the decision, the first under a new EU sanctions regime focused on halting the use and spread of banned chemical weapons.

"Today's new sanctions deliver on our vow to take tough action against the reckless and irresponsible activities of the Russian military intelligence organisation, the GRU," he said.

Offensive use

Russian agents have been blamed for the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the English city in March last year using the Soviet-developed nerve agent Novichok.

The Salisbury attack, the first offensive use of chemical weapons in Europe since World War II, caused an international outcry and prompted a mass expulsion of Russian diplomats by Western nations.

The Skripals survived the attack but a woman died in June after her partner picked up a discarded perfume bottle that British investigators believe was used to carry the Novichok.

Moscow denies involvement in the poisoning and has offered numerous and varied alternative explanations and counter-accusations.

There was no immediate reaction from the Kremlin after the sanctions were announced, but spokesman Dmitry Peskov had earlier brushed aside reports that "Petrov" and "Boshirov" would be targeted.

"They are under suspicion for no good reason," he said, insisting images published by British authorities of the pair visiting the UK at the time of the attack do not prove anything.

"There are a lot of pictures of Russian nationals in the UK and this is not direct evidence. We don't know of any more substantial and more concrete evidence, therefore we treat such decisions negatively."

A British statement identified the sanctioned Syrian entity as the Scientific Studies and Research Centre and the targeted nationals as Tariq Yasmina, Khaled Nasri, Walid Zughaid, Firas Ahmed and Said Said.