On Wednesday 28 June, the member states extended, by written procedure, the EU's economic sanctions against Russia until 31 January 2018, following a political agreement on this extension that was concluded at the European Council of 22-23 June (see EUROPE 11814).
The legal acts linked to this extension will be published in the EU Official Journal on Thursday 29 June.
The sanctions include financial measures, curtailing Russian access to certain sensitive technologies and services that can be used for oil production and exploration, an embargo on the import and export of weapons and related material from and into Russia, and a ban on exports of dual-use goods for military use or military end users.
These restrictive measures were initially introduced on 31 July 2014 for a year (see EUROPE 11133), in response to Russia's actions in eastern Ukraine. They were then strengthened in September 2014 (see EUROPE 11153) and have since been extended on several occasions. In March 2015, the European Council linked the lifting of these restrictive measures to full implementation of the Minsk agreements. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)