UK calls on EU to strengthen sanctions against Russia

The European Union should strengthen sanctions against Russia and the country’s “malign” operations around the world, foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt is expected to say on a trip to Washington.

On his first visit to the US as foreign secretary, Hunt will urge the EU to follow Washington’s response to the nerve agent attack in Salisbury, which the UK has attributed to Russia.

In a speech, Hunt will stress the need for Russia to understand there is a “serious price” to pay for repeated violations of international behaviour.

He will call on the EU to “ensure its sanctions against Russia are comprehensive” and stand alongside the US, which is banning Russian exports of security-sensitive goods, the BBC reported.

"That means calling out and responding to transgressions with one voice whenever they occur, from the streets of Salisbury to the fate of Crimea," Hunt will say.

Sergei and Yulia Skripal were poisoned in Salisbury, Wiltshire, in March. The UK accused Russia of using a nerve agent for the attack, a charge Moscow has denied. In June two people fell ill after being exposed to the same nerve agent. Dawn Sturgess died aged 44.

Hunt will say confidence in Western democracy has been undermined by foreign attempts to manipulate elections. He will call on European governments to “get their houses in order" by addressing the reasons for the rise in resentment and populism.

EU nations have shown little appetite for taking further economic sanctions against Russia.