Obama Administration Considers New Sanctions

The U.S. administration is considering stronger sanctions on Syria, AFP reported. Initially, the measures would target the Syrian government and its Russian backers by passing United Nations sanctions against those accused of using chemical weapons in the war-torn country.

A joint panel of the U.N. and the independent Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons implicated the Syrian government in at least two chemical weapons attacks in 2014 and 2015. The panel will present new and more detailed findings on Oct. 27, to move toward sanctions.

Top officials in the Syrian military and those close to the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad are already under U.S. sanctions, with frozen assets and travel bans. New measures, officials told AFP, would put pressure on Russia at the U.N. Security Council to defend its ally’s use of chemical weapons.

Syrian foreign minister Walid Moualem has previously denied his government’s use of chemical weapons, saying the accusations are “false, baseless and groundless.”

Eastern Aleppo May Be Ruined Within Two Months, U.N. Warns

Eastern Aleppo could be completely destroyed within the next two months according to U.N. special envoy Staffan de Mistura, BBC News reported.

Appealing to the Syrian government and its Russian backers not to destroy the city under the aim of targeting armed opposition fighters, de Mistura told reporters he would personally escort rebels and fighters affiliated to al-Qaida out of the besieged city, if the move would stem the violence.

“The bottom line is, in a maximum of two months, two-and-a half-months, the city of eastern Aleppo at this rate may be totally destroyed,” said de Mistura. “Thousands of Syrian civilians – not terrorists – will be killed and many of them wounded.”

Eastern Aleppo’s nearly 275,000 residents have been under siege for almost a month, enduring intense government and Russian airstrikes following a failed cease-fire.

At least 376 people have died in the past two weeks in Aleppo, according to the U.N humanitarian advisor, Jan Egeland.

The Syrian government and its Russian allies said their strikes were targeting members of the former al-Qaida affiliate in Syria, now known as Jabhat Fateh al-Sham. De Mistura, however, said only 900 of the estimated 8,000 fighters in eastern Aleppo had ties to the group.

“If you did decide to leave in dignity, and with your weapons, to Idlib or anywhere you wanted to go, I personally am ready physically to accompany you,” he said.

Berlin Presses Moscow Over Its Role in Syria’s Bombardment

The German government opened the way to possible sanctions against Russia for its key role in the Syrian conflict, Reuters reported.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Russia, a key ally of Syria’s President Assad, to use its influence in Syria to stop bombing civilians. “Russia has a lot of influence on Assad. We must end these atrocious crimes,” she said.

Formal proposals for sanctions were neither discussed nor ruled out at a press conference led by Merkel’s chief spokesman, Steffen Seibert. Germany’s priority in Syria, Seibert said, is a cease-fire allowing humanitarian aid deliveries to civilians.

However, the chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the German parliament, Norbert Roettgen, did call for sanctions on Russia. “A lack of consequences and sanctions for the most serious war crimes would be a scandal,” he said.

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