European Union Foreign Ministers strongly condemn Syrian and Russian air strikes on civilian targets in rebel-held eastern Aleppo, saying they may amount to war crimes, reports RFE/RL.
28 members of the EU adopted a statement on October 17 in Luxembourg that "Bashar al-Assad's regime and its allies, notably Russia, the intensity and scale of the aerial bombardment of eastern Aleppo is clearly disproportionate."
The statement said the offensive involved "the deliberate targeting of hospitals, medical personnel, schools, and essential infrastructure, as well as the use of barrel bombs, cluster bombs, and chemical weapons."
Britain and France strongly condemned Syria and Russia, calling Russia the Syrian government's "puppeteers."
The British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said the bombardment of Aleppo's rebel-held districts "shames humanity."
However, Federica Mogherini, the EU Foreign Policy chief, said the bloc was not considering sanctions against Russia for its actions in Syria, but there was a possibility of extending measures against Assad's regime.