European Union foreign ministers have imposed fresh sanctions on Syria.
Measures decided on February 27 at a meeting in Brussels included a freeze on Syrian central-bank assets, an EU travel ban on seven Syrians close to President Bashar al-Assad, a ban on Syrian cargo flights into the 27-nation EU, and restrictions on Syrian trade in gold and precious metals.
The EU has already blacklisted almost 150 Syrian entities and people, and imposed an oil and arms embargo on Assad’s regime.
The new EU moves came days after Western and Arab countries pledged to increase pressure on the regime and boost support for the opposition during a “Friends of Syria” gathering in Tunis.
In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denounced last week’s meeting, calling it “one-sided.”
Russia did not attend the meeting on February 24 in Tunis involving envoys from more than 60 countries, including Arab states, European Union countries, and the United States.
The meeting condemned the Assad regime, a Moscow ally, for its deadly crackdown on protests and vowed further sanctions targeting the regime.
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Speaking on February 27 in Moscow, Lavrov said the meeting was “clearly one-sided” and did not help to create conditions in which all Syrian factions could seek a political solution.
China and Iran also refused to attend the Tunis meeting.
The Russian foreign minister spoke as Syrian government forces reportedly resumed their shelling of pro-opposition areas in the central Homs Province.