The  EU yesterday lined up sanctions against Russian officials over the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny and against Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko over the crisis in his country.

Foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg agreed in principle to sanctions proposals made last week by France and Germany, which said Russia was responsible for the poisoning of Navalny with the Soviet-developed nerve agent Novichok, three diplomatic sources told AFP.

On Belarus, the ministers said they were ready to sanction strongman leader Lukashenko, as the bloc seeks to step up pressure over his regime's crackdown on protesters.

The EU has already imposed travel bans and asset freezes on 40 Lukashenko allies for rigging an election in August that returned him to power and then orchestrating a crackdown on the mass protests that have rocked the country since the vote.

The bloc had held back from penalising Lukashenko, hoping to persuade him to open a dialogue with opposition forces to resolve the crisis.

But a fresh outbreak in Minsk on Sunday -- police using water cannon and stun grenades on protesters and making hundreds of arrests -- prompted ministers to give political approval to sanctioning the strongman leader.

In their formal conclusions on Belarus, the ministers said the list of sanctioned people and entities would be put "under constant review".

As he arrived for the meeting in Luxembourg, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas had urged his counterparts to expand the sanctions list. "The violence continues, perpetrated by the Lukashenko regime... so we have to consider how to proceed," said Maas.