EU foreign affairs ministers have extended the bloc’s sanctions framework targeting the proliferation and use of chemical weapons until 30 October 2031.
They also renewed the validity of existing individual sanctions under the same framework for a further year, until 30 October 2027, the Council of the EU said in a release on Monday.
The measures currently apply to 31 people and six organisations in total.
Those listed are subject to an asset freeze, meaning any funds and economic resources held in the EU must be frozen, and it is prohibited to make funds or economic resources available to them directly or indirectly. Individuals on the list are also subject to a travel ban to the EU.
The sanctions framework is linked to the Chemical Weapons Convention — the international treaty banning the development, production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons and requiring their destruction.
Background and recent additions
EU leaders said in March 2018 that the use of chemical weapons, including toxic chemicals used as weapons, is “completely unacceptable” and constitutes a security threat, according to the Council.
The legal framework for the restrictive measures was adopted on 15 October 2018, and the EU can renew sanctions and amend the list of targeted people and organisations at any time.
On 3 July 2026, the Council imposed additional restrictive measures on six Russian individuals involved in the development of chemical weapons, including a substance it identified as epibatidine.
