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EU Approves New Mechanism for Imposing Sanctions Over Chemical Weapons

The European Union's foreign ministers met in Luxembourg to discuss measures related to the use of chemical weapons in the wake of the incident in Salisbury, UK.
Sputnik

"The Council adopted a new regime of restrictive measures to address the use and proliferation of chemical weapons. This decision is a direct follow-up to the conclusions of the European Council of 28 June 2018," the press release read.

READ MORE: EU to Formally Adopt Sanctions Regime for Chemical Attacks on October 15

According to the document, the move enables the European Union to "impose sanctions on persons and entities involved in the development and use of chemical weapons anywhere, regardless of their nationality and location."

"Sanctions consist of a travel ban to the EU and an asset freeze for persons, and an asset freeze for entities. In addition, EU persons and entities are forbidden from making funds available to those listed," the press release read.

The EU authorities earlier said that they plan to quickly develop measures to maintain international standards through the "sanctions regime" related to chemical weapons within the framework of the development of measures in the field of security following the incident in the English town of Salisbury.

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This decision was taken after an emergency session of the Organization for Proliferation of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which was convened in connection with the Skripal case and alleged use of chemical weapons by government forces in Syria.

Moscow has constantly denied the US and the UK accusations of its involvement in the alleged poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

Earlier, the Syrian Ambassador to Russia reminded that Syria "got rid of the chemical arsenal in 2013", adding that his country "never used and will not use chemical weapons."

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