EU prolongs sanctions on Russia for six months

EU countries agreed on Friday to renew their economic sanctions against Russia for six months, after concluding that Moscow has failed to fully respect a peace agreement in eastern Ukraine, EU diplomats said.

In that way, sanction measures on energy, banking and defence sectors will be extended until the end of July 2016, Reuters has reported.

The decision will become final at midday on Monday unless any member state changes its position and raises an objection in writing.

The decision came after an EU summit in Brussels where Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi wanted to discuss the sanctions, imposed on Moscow last year over the Ukraine conflict, before extending them. At the same time, Russia is asked to help resolve the conflict and end the war in Syria.

MEDVEDEV: Food embargo against Ukraine as of January

Russia will introduce a food embargo against Ukraine next month over Kiev's trade deal with the EU, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Monday.

- These measures will be extended to Ukraine too. We must protect our market and our producers and to prevent import of products masked as Ukrainian that are from other countries - AFP cited Medvedev as saying at a government meeting.

- There have been several rounds of talks. They did not bring any result. Neither Ukraine nor the European Union are ready to sign a legally binding agreement which would take into account Russia's interests - he added.

A free trade deal between Ukraine and the European Union is set to enter into force from January 1 as part of a broader agreement that helped sparked the current crisis between Kiev and the West on one side and Moscow on the other, AFP reports. Russia has repeatedly expressed concern that Ukraine's free trade agreement with Brussels may flood its market with European goods.