Luxembourg, 22/06/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 22 June, the EU Foreign Affairs Council extended the EU's economic sanctions against Russia until 31 January 2016 - in other words, for a further six months.
These measures, linked to the Ukrainian crisis, were initially adopted on 31 July 2014 (see EUROPE 11133), then extended until 8 September (see EUROPE 11153). They include financial measures and are against services and energy technology and equipment, an embargo on the import and export of weapons and related material from and into Russia, and a ban on exporting dual use goods and technology for military purposes or military end use.
The decision to extend the restrictive measures follows the decision of the European Council on 19 March to link the duration of the sanctions to implementation of the Minsk agreements for settling the conflict in Eastern Ukraine, planned for 31 December 2015 (see EUROPE 11279).
The legal acts on extending the sanctions concerning the restrictive measures in response to the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol were published on Saturday 20 June (see EUROPE 11339). (Camille-Cerise Gessant)