EU extends sanctions against Russia by 6 months

The European Union on Monday extended economic sanctions against Russia until January to keep pressure on Moscow over the conflict in eastern Ukraine, drawing a rebuke and a warning of retaliation from Russian officials.An EU statement said the decision was taken without debate by the bloc’s Foreign Ministers at a meeting in luxembourg, in response to “Russia’s destabilising role in eastern Ukraine.”

The sanctions include limits to access on some financial markets, a ban on certain technologies and exchanges between the bloc and Russia in energy and defence sectors. Enacted last July and reinforced in September, the sanctions had been due to expire in July.

They are now expected to expire on January 31. In response, Russia is expected to extend its ban on the import of many agricultural products from the EU, which was imposed as a countermeasure to the EU sanctions.“Since they were extended, we will act on the principle of reciprocity,” said Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

Fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed rebels has killed more than 6,400 people in eastern Ukraine and persists despite a ceasefire agreed in Minsk, Belarus, in February that calls for the pullback of heavy weapons from the front line.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement today it was “deeply disappointed that once again in the EU, the view of the Russophobic lobby has prevailed” in the extension of the “illegal restrictions.”