EU intends to renew sanctions against Russia
The European Union is committed to renewing economic sanctions against the Russian Federation for its aggression against Ukraine, stated the Deputy Secretary General for Common Security and Defense Policy and Crisis Response at the European External Action Service, Pedro Serrano during a security forum in Washington.
“The European Union is firmly committed to supporting Ukraine’s territorial integrity. We support Ukraine politically and economically, including support by upholding sanctions (against Russia), and we will continue to do that,” said the European diplomat as quoted by Ukrinform.
He stressed that the European Union will stand by this policy.
“We will demand that Russia respect and implement the Minsk agreements. This policy adopted by the European Union will endure,” Serrano stressed.
Earlier, Bloomberg reported that the permanent representatives of the European Union agreed that Russian sanctions should be renewed for another year. Sanctions will be in effect until June 23, 2020.
The EU sanctions policy towards Russia includes three independent blocks: visa restrictions for Russian citizens, economic sector sanctions against a number of Russian state-owned companies in the oil, defense and financial sectors, as well as restrictive measures against Crimea. All these packages were introduced in 2014 after the annexation of the Crimea and the Russian army’s incursion into the Donbas.