Brussels, 18/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 18 December, two European sources confirmed that the permanent representatives to the EU (Coreper) had decided to extend the economic sanctions against the Russian Federation.
This decision will still have to be adopted formally by written procedure - which should take place on Monday 21 December. The decision is therefore expected to be published in the Official Journal of the EU the following day. These sanctions, which ran until 31 January 2016, will now be extended until 31 July 2016.
In approving this decision, the EU member states have put an end to ten days of uncertainty - due especially to Italy's request for a debate to be held on the issue. This debate did not in the end take place - either at ministers' or heads of state level.
Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi had said on Wednesday 16 December that if the issue of sanctions was not the subject of a debate in December, then “this batch of sanctions will be re-assessed (…) in the coming months”. In his invitation letter to the European summit (which finished on Friday 18 December), European Council President Donald Tusk had asked the permanent representatives to the EU to take charge of this issue. He had also stated that the sanctions were linked to the full implementation of the Minsk agreements (see EUROPE 11454). (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)