Report: UK foreign min to mull new anti-Russian sanctions at G7

MOSCOW, Apr 10 (PRIME) -- U.K. Foreign Minister Boris Johnson plans to discuss toughening anti-Russian sanctions with other G7 foreign ministers, The Times reported on Monday.

On the night of April 6, the U.S. launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the military airfield in Ash Sha’irat. U.S. President Donald Trump said that the attack was a response to the alleged chemical weapon use in Syria's Idlib province on Tuesday, which resulted in the death of over 80 people, an incident which Washington blames on the Syrian government.

Johnson wants the G7 to public a joint statement due to the chemical attack demanding that Russia stops support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and withdraws its troops from the country. Otherwise, Moscow will suffer new sanctions in addition to restrictions introduced for its role in the Ukrainian crisis, The Times reported.

The document on sanctions has already been prepared prior to the G7 foreign minister meeting in Italy, and their goal is to make the life of Russian officials very hard, the daily reported.

On April 9, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley told CNN that Trump was discussing with members of his administration the possibility of introducing sanctions against Russia and Iran for supporting the Syrian government. “I think it's conversations we will be having and have started to have … I don’t think anything is off the table at this point,” she said.

She also said that classified information proving that Assad had been involved in the chemical attack was shown to Trump and his administration.

Previously, the Syrian foreign minister denied the government’s involvement in the incident. The Russian Defense Ministry said on April 5 that that the airstrike near Khan Shaykhun by the Syrian air force hit a terrorist warehouse that stored chemical weapons slated for delivery to Iraq, and called on the UN Security Council to launch a proper investigation into the incident.

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