The decision to extend the economic sectoral sanctions of the European Union against Russia on June 29 was published in the Official Journal of the European Union. Thus it will come into force from tomorrow. Restrictive measures extended for six months - until January 31, 2018.
On the eve of the EU Council on a written procedure, not involving meetings, took an official decision to extend sanctions against our country. This step was of a purely technical nature: a political decision on sanctions was taken on June 22 at the EU summit.
The publication of the Official Journal of the EU states that the decision to extend sanctions followed the report of French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the EU summit on June 22-23 on the implementation of the Minsk Agreements. "This opened the way to extending the sanctions for six months. The Council (EU) unanimously adopted a formal decision on this by a written procedure, "the statement said..
The Council of the European Union confirmed that the prolongation of restrictive measures is connected with the non-fulfillment of the Minsk Agreements. "On March 19, 2015, the EU Council agreed to link the extension of sanctions with the full implementation of the Minsk agreements, which was due to take place by December 31, 2015. Since this did not happen, and considering that the Minsk agreements have not been fully implemented so far, the council decided to extend the sanctions, "the governing body.
In Moscow, the decision of the EU authorities took a negative. According to Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Meshkov, the anti-Russian sanctions of the European Union are not able to achieve Brussels' goals in relations with Moscow, and the decision to extend them is regrettable.
"It has long been clear to everyone that sanctions are counterproductive, that they are not able to solve any task that the European Union. More than once independent experts in the EU countries with figures in their hands showed that the economy of the EU countries is suffering primarily from sanctions and our countermeasures, "the diplomat said..
Experts believe that the fate of sanctions was decided under pressure from US congressmen. Currently, Europe is extremely important "to seek a new format for relations with the US, so it has to reckon with the mood in the US Congress," said Nikita Maslennikov, head of Finance and Economics at the Institute of Contemporary Development.
"As soon as Europe extended the old sanctions package for six months, the Americans immediately signaled that they are ready to return to negotiations on a free trade zone with the EU," Nation News quotes him.
The package of anti-Russian economic measures was last extended in January of this year until July 31. Sanctions restrict access to the European financial markets to leading Russian banks with a majority stake in the authorized capital, their units established outside the EU, as well as three major Russian energy companies and three defense firms. Restrictions also imply an embargo on the trade in Russian arms and a ban on the export of dual-use goods to Russia - for military purposes or for the Russian army. The EU sanctions measures also apply to selected technologies in the field of oil development and production.
The European Union began to impose sanctions on Russia in connection with the events in Ukraine in March 2014. Three sanctions packages are currently in force against our country: visa restrictions on Russian citizens (effective until September this year), economic sanctions against a number of Russian state-owned oil, defense and financial sectors (extended until January 31, 2018. ), As well as restrictive measures against the Crimea (extended until June 23, 2018.