EU leaders divided on further sanctions against Russia

European Union leaders remained divided over sanctions on Russia on Thursday night despite deepening concern about the humanitarian situation in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo.

While discussion of Russia dominated the first day of the EU leaders' summit in Brussels, the EU was not expected to endorse further sanctions amid continuing divisions among member states over engagement with Moscow.

EU leaders gathered just hours after a four-way meeting between German chancellor Angela Merkel, French president François Hollande, Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko, and Russian president Vladimir Putin failed to yield any progress on resolving the Syrian crisis.

The meeting marked the first gathering of the so-called Normandy group, which was set up to tackle the Ukraine crisis. It was also the first visit by Mr Putin to Berlin since the onset of the crisis more than two years ago.

Mr Hollande said the priority was to prolong the Russian ceasefire in Aleppo, which began on Thursday.

"I come to the European Council to convince all Europeans that we must put all necessary pressure on Russia so that the ceasefire is extended, humanitarian aid can be distributed to the population, and to have a political discussion on Syria, " he said on arrival in Brussels.

Both Germany and France threatened Moscow with further sanctions after their inconclusive meeting with Mr Putin on Wednesday, with Mr Hollande describing what is happening in Aleppo as a "war crime".

Tough line

Arriving at the summit in Brussels, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said he expected quite detailed discussions on the sanctions question over dinner.

Ireland

has taken a relatively tough line against Russia, with Minister for Foreign Affairs

Charlie Flanagan

describing Russia’s support for the Assad regime as “totally unacceptable”.

It is understood that the Government is in favour of maintaining the option of scaling up existing sanctions against Russia when they come up for renewal at the end of the year.

In his address to EU leaders as the summit began, European Parliament president Martin Schulz said that "acting to stop the bloodshed in Syria should be the number one priority on your list". He warned that the "credibility of EU foreign policy is at stake".

The current EU sanction regime, which was introduced after Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, is linked to the fulfilment of the conditions of the Minsk agreement that seeks to stop the conflict in Ukraine. But Russia's involvement in air strikes in Aleppo has prompted calls for the EU to take further measures against its eastern neighbour.

Economic effect

While the European Council president,

Donald Tusk

, said

Europe

would “keep all options open, including sanctions” in the context of the ongoing conflict in Aleppo, officials said EU countries remained divided on the issue.

Italy, Hungary, Greece and Cyprus are among countries that have previously called for the current sanctions against Russia to be reassessed because they are feeling the economic effect of counter-sanctions imposed by Russia.

France and Britain, in contrast, have called for tougher actions against Moscow.

The two-day summit is one of the first in recent years not to deal exclusively with the migration crisis that has overwhelmed Europe as a result of the Syrian civil war. Still, migration did feature on the agenda.

At the behest of Italy, EU leaders discussed the situation regarding the inflow of migrants across the Mediterranean and signalled a hardening of attitude towards irregular migrants arriving from Africa.

Among the proposals put forward by the EU are “migration compacts” with five African countries. These would seek to ensure that those arriving to Europe from Africa who are not eligible for asylum will be deported.