THEEuropean Union has decided to extend by another six months, until July 2017, economic sanctions against Russia expiring on January 31st. The measures were launched for the annexation of the Crimea and the destabilization of the Donbass (basin of the river of the same name). The sectors affected by the sanctions are various: finance, energy, defense and civil and military goods.
The EU has also imposed travel bans and asset freezes on a number of Russian and Ukrainian personalities accused of undermining Ukraine's territorial integrity. These last measures will expire in March.
"The sanctions do not favor the adjustment of the situation of Russia-EU relations - said the Russian deputy foreign minister, Meshkov - However, they lower dependence on EU countries".
The German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the French president Francois Hollande they had said in recent days that they wanted an extension of the economic sanctions because Moscow does not respect its commitments on the truce agreed in eastern Ukraine. According to the two leaders, there has been no progress in implementing the Minsk ceasefire agreement, so there is no alternative to prolonging the punitive measures.
The EU imposed the sanctions after a Malaysia Airlines airliner was shot down by a Russian-made missile in July 2014 as it flew over territory in eastern Ukraine held by pro-Russian rebels. The sanctions have been regularly extended since then, but various countries, Italy in the lead, contested its effectiveness and costs.
The shock victory of Donald Trump doubts increased in the US presidential elections, in light of the softer line that the billionaire seems to want to adopt towards Moscow.
