EU extends economic sanctions against Russia for six months

Heads of state and government of the European Union made a decision at the online summit to extend economic sanctions against Russia due to expire on July 31 for six months, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel said at the press conference following the summit.

– German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron apprised the EU leaders of the Minsk Agreement implementation so now we can move on to extending the sanctions, Michel said, Sputnik news agency reports.

According to Michel, the EU leaders came to the conclusion that there had been no progress in agreement implementation and hence decided to extend the sanction for the next six months.

Russia has repeatedly denied the accusations by western countries of meddling in Ukraine's internal affairs saying it hadn't taken part in conflict in Ukraine's Donbas region and it wasn't a subject to Minsk Agreement.

EU first imposed sanctions to Russia in response to events in Ukraine and Russia’s annexation of Crimea. The negotiations on visa-free regime were halted and EU imposed visa bans and asset freezes against some Russian officials.

European Union

European Council

Charles Michel

Angela Merkel

Emmanuel Macron

economic sanctions against Russia

extension of economic sanctions against Russia

Minsk Agreement

annexation of Crimea