The Council of EU has announced the decision to prolong sanctions against Russia over the destabilisation of Ukraine by six months.
“The Council today decided to prolong the sanctions targeting specific economic sectors of the Russian Federation for a further six months, until 31 January 2022. The Council decision follows the latest assessment of the state of implementation of the Minsk agreements – initially foreseen to happen by 31 December 2015 – at the European Council of 24-25 June 2021,” reads the press release of the Council of the European Union.
In light of the fact that the Minsk agreements are not fully implemented by Russia, EU leaders unanimously decided to roll-over the economic sanctions in place against the country.
As noted, economic sanctions were first introduced on 31 July 2014 in response to Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine. They were reinforced in September 2014, and in March 2015, the European Council agreed to link their duration to the complete implementation of the Minsk agreements.
In addition to economic sanctions, the EU has in place different types of measures in response to Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol and the deliberate destabilisation of Ukraine. These include: diplomatic measures, individual restrictive measures (asset freezes and travel restrictions), and specific restrictions on economic relations with Crimea and Sevastopol.
Source – Ukrinform