EU leaders on Tuesday once again decided to extend anti-Russian economic sanctions that have been in place for seven years
European Council President Charles Michel wrote this on Twitter.
“We have extended our economic sanctions against Russia: Moscow must implement its part of the Minsk agreements”, – the European Council chief said.
He also said that the EU would continue to consider possible formats and conditions for dialogue with Russia.
The EU economic sanctions target the financial, energy and defence sectors in Russia. In particular, access to the EU primary and secondary capital markets has been restricted for a number of Russian banks and companies, and import and export of weapons and dual-use goods have been banned. In addition, the EU has restricted Russian access to a number of technologies and services for oil production and exploration.
These sanctions were originally imposed by the EU on 31 July 2014 for a period of one year. In March 2015, the sanctions were linked to the “full implementation of the Minsk agreements”. Since then, the restrictions have been renewed every six months for six consecutive years. Before deciding whether to extend the sanctions, EU countries assess Russia’s implementation of the Minsk agreements.