The question of sanctions figures in two distinct campaigns of engagement — toward Iran, and toward Russia.
Europe was Iran's largest trading partner before sanctions, and aims to increase trade with Tehran from the current level of €7.6bn (£5.8bn) a year to the pre-sanctions figure of almost €28bn.
Germany, Italy and France have been leading the pack as Europe aims to increase trade with Tehran from the current level of €7.6bn (£5.8bn) a year to the pre-sanctions figure of almost €28bn.
Germany, France and Italy are leading the pack as Europe aims to increase trade with Iran from the current level of €7.6bn (£5.8bn) to the pre-sanctions figure of almost €28bn.
This contrasts with the desire of European companies and European governments to increase trade with Iran from the current €7.6bn (£5.8bn) to the pre-sanctions figure of almost €28bn.
Moscow had warned that it would response in a tough way to the United States' so-called Magnitsky List of sanctioned figures, named after a lawyer in Russia who was investigating official corruption, only to be arrested and die in custody in 2009.
The sanctioned figures include Mr. Aung Ko Win, the airline owner and associate of Myanmar's former second in command, Gen. Maung Aye; and U Tun Myint Naing, known as Steven Law, the son of a 1970s opium trafficker and the managing director of the Asia World conglomerate, which has a stake in Yangon's Traders Hotel, a favorite of well-heeled travelers.
The brutality of the repression has led the United States and the European Union to impose some sanctions on figures in the leadership, though not on Mr. Assad himself.
Europe already is moving to sanction Ukrainian figures at the request of the government in Kiev, Reuters reports: European Union governments reached a preliminary agreement on Tuesday to freeze the assets of 18 Ukrainians, at Kiev's request, after Ukraine's new rulers said billions in public funds have gone missing.
The direct impact of the sanctions on that figure, despite the worries of some European leaders, would be relatively minuscule: G.D.P. growth would be lower by about half of a tenth of a percentage point.
Most of the new individuals subject to sanctions are technical figures but one, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi, is a prominent figure in the Revolutionary Guard military corps and is close to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
