The European Union for six months extended economic sectoral sanctions against Russia. This is stated in the statement of the EU Council on Wednesday, June 28.
The restrictions will be in effect until January 31, 2018. Before that, they were approved until 31 July 2017.
As noted, the decision was taken unanimously. This was done after the report of the President of France Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the implementation of the Minsk agreements at the summit of leaders of member countries of the EU on 22-23 June.
On 23 June the Chairman of the Duma Committee on international Affairs Leonid Slutsky noted that the European Union is, once again, extending the anti-Russian sanctions, goes to the far West and thus pushes himself to a standstill.
A day earlier, the President of the European Council Donald Tusk said that the leaders of the member countries of the European Union agreed on the decision to extend economic sanctions against Russia. The motive was that it “is sufficiently complied with the Minsk agreement,” he said.
A number of countries, including the USA and member States of the European Union has imposed restrictive measures against Moscow in 2014, linking them with the annexation of Crimea to Russia, and then the conflict in the South-East of Ukraine. The lifting of sanctions linked to the execution of Moscow signed in February of 2015, the Minsk agreements to stabilize the situation in the Donbass. Russia has repeatedly said that is not a party to the conflict in Ukraine, therefore, the responsibility for the implementation of the provisions lies with the Kiev authorities and militia leaders.