EU prolongs sanctions against Russia for another 6 mths

Tuesday, June 21, 2016 - 13:12 (EEST) Section: Latest news

The European Union has prolonged for another six months the economic sanctions against Russia earlier imposed for Moscow`s actions in Ukraine.
The decision was taken on Tuesday by COREPER [Comite des Representants Permanents, or the Committee of Permanent Representatives in the European Union], the EU Council said, according to an UNIAN correspondent in Brussels.
”We can confirm COREPER has agreed to prolong the restrictive measures in view of Russia`s action destabilising the situation in Ukraine to further assess the implementation of the Minsk agreements,” said the EU Council.
The proposed extension is for six months, until January 31, 2017, according to the source. The decision should be finally adopted by the EU Council. The date of the relevant meeting is still unknown, but it is expected that this will happen before the end of July.
UNIAN memo. In March 2014, after the Russian troops invaded Crimea, Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula, having organized a sham ”referendum” on self-determination.
The self-proclaimed Crimean government said that 96.77% of participating voters had supported Crimea`s accession to Russia.
Ukraine designated the Crimean referendum as illegitimate.
On March 18, 2014, the Kremlin signed the so-called ”Treaty of Accession” regarding Crimea and Sevastopol, Russia`s naval base in the Black Sea.
Western countries did not recognize the annexation of Crimea and introduced a series of economic sanctions against Russia and Crimea.