Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, has met ministers from former Soviet states to discuss sanctions

Britain is pushing for new EU sanctions on senior figures in President Putin’s military spy network responsible for the Salisbury poisoning in March.

Members of the GRU senior leadership are on a draft list of individuals to be sanctioned under a new EU regime aimed at curbing the use of chemical weapons, say diplomatic sources.

The UK hopes to secure the backing of France and Germany for the sanctions. It is pressing for other foreign ministers to approve freezing assets and banning travel for the named senior Russian spies within weeks.

Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, met ministers from countries including Hungary in London last month to discuss new sanctions.

Half a dozen named individuals involved in the novichok attack on Sergei Skripal, a former