EU countries are legally free to ship arms to Syria from 1 June in an ugly compromise after 14 hours of talks in Brussels.
The deal is to see all other sanctions - including visa bans, asset freezes and a prohibition on buying oil from regime-linked firms - extended for one year.
It comes with a political declaration that nobody will deliver weapons "at this stage."
It also comes with a promise to send arms "for the protection of civilians" only.
But it does not hide...
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Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.