The Council of the European Union has decided to extend for six months economic sanctions against Russian individuals and legal entities. This is stated in a statement released today by the Council. Restrictive measures extended until September 15, 2018. They will affect 150 people and 38 companies. Measures include the freezing of the assets of individuals and companies that are subject to sanctions, as well as travel restrictions. The reason for the restrictions were "actions that undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine," explained in the EU body. The decision to leave sanctions in force was made due to the fact that "the assessment of the situation did not justify any changes in the sanctions regime". All the necessary normative acts fixing this decision will be published in the tomorrow's edition of the Official Journal of the EU. The next chapter of the sanction epic did not present any surprises.

The political decision that the restrictions should be prolonged was made on February 21 at a meeting of the ambassadors of 28 countries that are members of the European Union. Five days later, the EU Council was to approve the decision, but the consideration of the matter was postponed. Eurodiplomats referred to internal procedures:.

governments and parliaments of some EU countries did not manage to give their consent.

At the same time, Russia's permanent representative to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov, explained that the European Union's prolongation of the black list against the Russian Federation was postponed, because the countries do not want to take automatic, rash decisions. The EU once again links the lifting of sanctions with the implementation of agreements on the Donbass. In order for the EU's policy towards Russia to change, Moscow must fully implement the Minsk agreements and stop "the illegal annexation of the Crimea," said the head of European diplomacy Federica Moherini. According to her, visits of some European politicians to the Crimea do not reflect the common position of the European Union. In this case, the fact that Russia fulfills all the necessary requirements is not taken into account, but Ukraine is carrying out purposeful work to break agreements. It is through the fault of Kiev that the agreements can not be fulfilled in full, and our country is responsible for this. Deputy head of the European Parliament Fabio Massimo Castaldo urged EU countries, who disagree with the policy of sanctions against Russia, to use their right of veto when it comes to their extension. According to him, the sanctions showed their utter futility. They are more likely to hit European business than Russians. However, no one listened to Castaldo. A member of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, a member of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, Vitaly Milonov, explained the extension of sanctions by the fact that the national interests of the member states of the European Union are lower than the interests of the United States. "Representatives of Italy, a friendly country, do not want to suffer the damage caused to its economy by anti-Russian sanctions. Italians want to restore ties with Russia, expand mutually beneficial relations. Previously, the Germans and the French. But, unfortunately, the reasonable voices of our friends in the European Parliament are much quieter and timid voices of our enemies, "the deputy of the FAN.

The harm of sanctions the other day, once again declared the German farmers. Their damage from the bilateral embargo has already resulted in an astronomical amount.

In contrast, the Russians did not receive any sanctions from the sanctions.

The current package concerns only a narrow circle of politicians and officials, as well as some related companies. With all other sanctions, Russians have learned to cope with measures to support domestic producers and the import substitution program.