While the heads of state or government said, overnight on Thursday 20 to Friday 21 October, that they were ready to consider "all available options" against the Russian Federation should the atrocities in Syria continue, no consensus was reached, however, on openly mentioning the possibility of taking further restrictive measures.
Unlike the European Council draft conclusions of 19 October, which stated that the "EU is considering all available options, including further restrictive measures targeting individuals and entities supporting the regime, should the current atrocities continue" (see EUROPE 11650), the conclusions which were finally adopted by the 28 EU member states simply say that "the EU is considering all available options, should the current atrocities continue".
According to diplomatic sources, Italy is not said to be against mentioning this possibility of further sanctions. "It doesn't make sense to insert a reference (in the text) to sanctions", Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said. He added that there was no point in deviating from the conclusions of the foreign affairs ministers of 17 October, which referred to the preparation of "restrictive measures against Syria targeting Syrian individuals and entities supporting the regime, as long as the repression continues" (see EUROPE 11647). According to a European source, Renzi also thought that if they wanted to talk to the Kremlin, the door had to be kept open for dialogue.
Although the sanctions are not explicitly mentioned, the mention of "all available options" does not necessarily rule them out. "At this stage, there are no sanctions linked to the Russian intervention in Syria. We must do our utmost for the truce to be extended. If it happened that there were still massacres and bombings, it is first against the Syrian perpetrators that a certain number of sanctions would have to be pronounced. Russia would also be open to the EU's response if Russia continued its bombing, but we are not there yet", France's President François Hollande stated at the end of the meeting.
Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel made a similar comment. "If human rights are still flouted, we will plan all the measures to respond. The priority is first humanitarian aid", she told press, adding that if the intensity of the fighting continued, it would push the Europeans to think about further measures.
Strong condemnation of attacks and call for ceasefire to be extended.
In its conclusions, the European Council "strongly" condemned "the attacks by the Syrian regime and its allies, notably Russia, on civilians in Aleppo". The leaders also called on Syria and its allies to " bring the atrocities to an end and to take urgent steps to ensure unhindered humanitarian access to Aleppo and other parts of the country".
They also called on High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini to continue, with the European Commission, the EU humanitarian initiative and medical evacuations, in cooperation with the United Nations. This initiative, which was proposed on 2 October (see EUROPE 11637), is still awaiting authorisation from the Syrian regime.
The leaders also warned that "those responsible for breaches of international humanitarian law and human rights law must be held accountable". They called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and for the resumption of a credible political process under the auspices of the United Nations. "Everything should be done to extend the ceasefire, bring in humanitarian aid to the civilian population and create the conditions for opening negotiations on a political transition in Syria", they said.
In addition, like the foreign affairs ministers on 17 October, the leaders called on Mogherini to reach out to key actors in the region on a political transition and on preparations for post-conflict reconciliation and reconstruction. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant with Mathieu Bion and Emmanuel Hagry)