EU Extends Economic Sanctions on Russia

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EU sanctions targeting Moscow’s finance, energy and defense industries will stay in place until mid-2020. The decision comes after the leaders of Russia and Ukraine met in Paris to seek a solution to Ukraine conflict. European Union leaders meeting in Brussels on Thursday agreed to extend economic sanctions against Russia for another six months, officials said. “Prolongation of Russia sanctions is adopted by EU leaders,” Barend Leyts, spokesman for European Council President Charles Michel said on December, 12. The restrictive sanctions target energy, financial and arms sectors of the Russian Federation, as well as dual-use goods. Economic sanctions include restricting access to the primary and secondary EU capital markets for five Russian financial institutions, an export and import ban on arms trade, and a number of other sanctions. The measures were first implemented in 2014 after Moscow annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and backed a separatist insurgency in the country's east. EU penalties for the annexation of Crimea remain in force until June 23, 2020, and the sanctions imposed in connection with the violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine - until March 15, 2020. Deutsche Welle