January 18, 2012 -- Updated 1848 GMT (0248 HKT) An opposition group says Syrian security forces killed 13 people Wednesday Russia's foreign minister expresses skepticism about moves against Syria (CNN) -- The European Union is planning further sanctions against Syria, spokesman Michael Mann said Wednesday, as Syria continued its crackdown on anti-government protesters. The EU will place restrictions on 22 more individuals and eight more companies starting on Monday, said a source familiar with the decision who asked not to be named talking about an announcement that had not yet been made. The announcement came as an opposition group said that Syrian security forces killed 13 people across the country on Wednesday. The Local Coordination Committees in Syria said nine people were killed in Homs, two in the suburbs of the capital Damascus, and one each in Idlib and Aleppo. CNN cannot independently verify events in Syria because the country restricts the activity of journalists there. An Arab League monitoring mission has been in Syria since late December, but the team's mandate expires Wednesday as the League and the Syrian government negotiate over an extension, said Ambassador Adnan Al Khudeir, the Cairo-based head of the monitoring operation. European nations have been pushing for tough measures against Syria, where more than 5,000 people have been killed since demonstrations began in March of last year, according to the United Nations. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said earlier Wednesday that "Western countries" were trying to remove U.N. restrictions on the use of force against Syria. "The approach of our Western colleagues is one-sided," Lavrov told journalists in Moscow. An attack on Syria will not be approved by the U.N., which leaves the attackers fully responsible for their deeds. He also expressed skepticism about the possible introduction of a no-fly zone in Syria. "Our colleagues in the West are discussing it," Lavrov said, expressing skepticism about the value of such a measure, as "unlike the Libyan scenario, Syria has not used the air forces against peaceful citizens." Lavrov also said that Moscow did not consider legitimate the sanctions that were unilaterally imposed on Syria by Western countries. Unilateral sanctions are always a derogation of the collective efforts of Syria. ... If someone wants to use the U.N. Security Council, it is necessary to discuss everything there, whether we need sanctions or not ... (and) which methods apart from sanctions to use," he said. CNN's Alla Eshchenko in Moscow contributed to this report.