This week the EU will decide about new sanctions against Syria and, possibly, for the first time against Russia, resulting out of its alliance with the government of President Bashar al-Assad. The EU, will discuss entry barriers for up to twelve Russians who are directly involved in the Syrian Civil War. Furthermore, Britain, France and Germany aim for economic sanctions on 20 Syrians who are suspected of directing attacks against civilians. These Syrians would be added to the EU`s existing sanction list. 

This has been triggered by the "catastrophic escalation" in the fighting for the Syrian city Aleppo, where 275,000 people are trapped. There are 8,000 rebels in the eastern part of the city and the city gets attacked regularly, by air raids of the Syrian and Russian air force.

EU foreign ministers will discuss this at a meeting in Luxembourg on Monday. It is likely, that on Monday, there will be no decisions made on new sanctions, but the 28 EU heads of government will further deal with this issue at the summit on Thursday and Friday. Concerning Russia, the member state`s opinions are divided, as this discussion might anger Russia and postpone peace talks even further. Countries like Greece, Cyprus and Hungary, which are considered to be Russia's closest allies in the EU, had already filed an appeal against sanctions, said EU diplomats. 

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