Brussels: Syria was the target of fresh European Union sanctions on Monday, as the 27-nation bloc’s foreign ministers said they saw signs that Syrian President Bashar Al Assad’s regime was starting to crumble.

The EU confirmed on Monday morning they had agreed the fresh measures although they will only be officially detailed on Tuesday. The measures are expected to include an asset freeze and travel ban on around 26 people and several companies.

They also include a tightening of the arms embargo.

“It is important to carry on with the sanctions,” EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on her way into the foreign ministers meeting.

The effort to tighten the arms embargo includes a measure obliging member states to inspect vessels in their territorial waters or ports that are suspected of carrying arms to Syria. Planes suspected of carrying weapons will also be subject to searches, diplomats said last week.

The initiative could irk Russia, which stands widely accused of providing assistance to Al Assad’s regime. Last month, UK authorities said a ship carrying Russian-refurbished attack helicopters to Syria turned back after its insurance cover was stripped.

The EU has already launched 16 rounds of sanctions on Syria over its repression of protesters, including a ban on Syrian oil exports and an asset freeze and travel ban on many top officials, including Al Assad and some family members.

As they entered the meeting, ministers said they saw growing signs the Al Assad regime was weakening-including defections and last week’s bomb blast in Damascus that killed the defence minister and Al Assad’s brother-in-law.

Deputy German Foreign Minister Michael Link said the sanctions would “further close the circle” around the Al Assad regime.

“Time is running out for the regime now,” he told reporters.

Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal also said he was increasingly confident that Al Assad’s regime was facing the “beginning of the end.”

“We are confident that we are now talking not about the question of whether [Al] Assad will step down but only about the moment he will do that,” he said.

Speaking on his way into the meeting, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said he hopes that the intensifying pressure will persuade Al Assad to quit.

“We’ve said since August last year, he should go. Where he goes is up to him,” he said.

Hague joined his French counterpart Laurent Fasbius in calling for stepped up humanitarian aid for those fleeing Syria because of the fighting.

He also attacked last week’s decision by Russia and China to block the latest United Nations Security Council resolution against Syria. He said it means governments “will have to intensify our work outside the Security Council.

“We remain very disappointed and appalled by the vetoing by Russia and China of the” resolution. “I think that events over the weekend including the escalating death toll and the spreading of violence to other parts of Syria show how necessary that resolution was,” he said.