The European
Union extended for a year on Friday a ban on business dealings with the Black
Sea peninsula of Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014 in a move
that has not been internationally recognized.
The sanctions, now prolonged
until June 23, 2017, prohibit imports of products from Crimea, any investment
there, cooperation in tourism services as well as exports of some goods and
services to the peninsula.
The EU is due next week to
extend until the end of 2016 its broader economic sanctions on Russia over its
role in the crisis in Ukraine.
Following the annexation of
Crimea, Russia-backed rebels took up arms against Kiev in eastern Ukraine,
where more than 9,000 people have been killed in fighting since the spring of
2014.
The crisis in Ukraine has
pushed relations between Moscow and the West to new lows, though the EU is
looking to review its broader policy toward Moscow in the second half of the
year.
Signs of a tentative thaw
include a high-profile visit made by European Commission President Jean-Claude
Juncker to Russia on Thursday.
(Reporting by Gabriela
Baczynska; Editing by Philip Blenkinsop/Mark Heinrich)
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