THERESA May’s bid to raise tough sanctions on Russian generals for “sickening atrocities” in Syria faces failure.

The PM allied with France at her first EU summit to call for “a united and robust stance” against the Kremlin’s war crimes on the besieged city of Aleppo.

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Arriving in Brussels, Mrs May ramped her rhetoric on Moscow.

She insisted: “The UK has put Russian actions in Syria on the agenda for this summit.

“It’s vital that we work together to continue to put pressure on Russia to stop its sickening atrocities in Syria.”

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A hit list of Russian generals, politicians and arms dealers responsible for the horror in Syria is being drawn up.

In a similar action to the sanctions imposed over the invasion of Ukraine, London and Paris want to see the guilty men’s assets frozen and travel bans enforced on them.

But a raft of southern and eastern European states refused to sign up to any new punishments on President Putin.

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Instead, leaders were expected to only agree on a fudge today to “keep options on the table”.

Austria was in the vanguard of the attack on Mrs May’s plans at a leaders’ dinner where sanctions were discussed.

Austria’s chancellor Christian Kern said: “We have to say clearly that there has been a violation of human rights in Syria, but sanctions are not realistic”.

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During the Brussels summit dinner, Mrs May also lashed out at Russia for posing a threat to European countries’ “democratic institutions” through its aggressive cyber hacking operations.

A No10 source added: "It's important to keep up the pressure, not shifting back.

"We are focused on where Russia's actions are killing people."

Mrs May’s call for was backed by former NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.

He said: ‘I’m talking first of all about sanctions.

“There might be in the European Union a decision initiated by Italy about lifting some of the sanctions the EU decided upon after the Russian annexation of Crimea.

“I think these actions in Syria call for more sanctions rather than less sanctions.’