EU extends economic sanctions against Russia till 2016

Against the backdrop of Russia’s defiant posture in Eastern Ukraine, the European Union has unanimously extended broad economic sanctions on Russia till the end of January 2016.

The EU statement confirmed that the decision to impose sanctions on Russia was taken at the meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers’ in Luxembourg on June 22, which focused on Russia’s destabilising role in Ukraine.

The extended sanctions mean a limited access to its financial market, a ban on export of certain technologies and export of Russia’s defence equipment for military use and future EU-Russia arm deals.

Russia has retaliated with sanctions against a number of countries, which include total ban on food imports from the European Union.

Russia condemned the UN’s decision and said it would respond reciprocally. Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, said, “Russia, naturally, considers these sanctions to be unfounded and illegal, and we have never been the instigators of sanction measures.”

Russia’s export ban on EU agricultural exports has cost European companies around €5 billion ($5.7 billion) in lost sales, according to EU officials.

The EU and the US have blamed Moscow for funding and arming pro-Russia separatists in Ukraine and contend that Moscow has sent thousands of troops over the border. Russia has vehemently denied these accusations.

Kiev welcomes the EU decision to extend sanctions, says it sends “a clear message” to Moscow about the bloc’s “solidarity” with Ukraine, said Valeriy Chaly, foreign policy adviser to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, said in a statement.

“It proves that the only way for Moscow to lift restrictive measures is to abide responsibly by letter and spirit of the peace accords and international law, rather than taking efforts to undermine the EU unity by political, economic or propaganda means.”

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