Dec. 21, 2015 9:58 a.m. ET
BRUSSELS—The European Union on Monday extended until end-July the economic sanctions imposed on Russia due to its military involvement in Ukraine.
The sanctions were initially introduced for one year on July 31 last year in response to Russia’s actions in Eastern Ukraine and then prolonged by another six months because of Russia’s noncompliance with the terms of a cease-fire deal agreed in Minsk, Belarus.
The deal obliged Russia to withdraw its military equipment and soldiers from Eastern Ukraine and use its influence on pro-Russia rebels to maintain the cease fire, exchange hostages with Kiev and allow access to international observers.
“However, since the Minsk agreements will not be fully implemented by Dec. 31, the duration of the sanctions has been prolonged whilst the Council continues its assessment of progress in implementation,” the Council of Ministers representing EU governments said in a statement.
The sanctions, which have weighed on a Russian economy struggling with the slump in oil prices, target Russia’s financial, energy and defense sectors, as well as so-called dual-use technology, which can be used for military purposes.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said that he welcomes the rollover by another six months. “The sanctions are very important in keeping Russia on track and narrowing their space of maneuver in Eastern Ukraine,” Mr. Klimkin told journalists in Brussels before a meeting with EU and Russian officials.
Mr. Klimkin said cease-fire violations have increased in the past month and that there was no progress on exchanging hostages, not even on injured ones. In addition to expelling humanitarian organizations, the rebels in the Donbas area have also banned Ukrainian technicians from doing repair work at damaged electricity and gas plants, potentially sentencing thousands of inhabitants to live in freezing flats, the minister said.
“Russia is in full control in Donbas, there is a Russian officer in every rebel unit. So stability is doable for Russia, but they are not interested,” Mr. Klimkin said.
Ukrainian officials had been worried that Europe might take a softer line with the Kremlin, just as fighting has flared up again with Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine. Western governments have sought to work more closely with Moscow over the crisis in Syria to combat the threat of Islamic State after last month’s terrorist attacks in Paris.
