The European Union will extend
by six months its main economic sanctions on Russia over the conflict in
Ukraine after the bloc's leaders meet in Brussels on Dec. 15, diplomatic
sources and officials said on Friday.
The sanctions include
restrictions access to international financing, and curbs on defence and energy
cooperation with Russia, which annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea from
Kiev in March, 2014, and went on to back a rebellion in east Ukraine.
The conflict in Ukraine's
industrial east is still simmering and has claimed nearly 10,000 lives. Efforts
at implementing a peace agreement, brokered by Germany and France, have stalled
for nearly two years.
The sources said Paris and
Berlin will briefly inform other EU leaders about the situation when they meet
next week for their last joint summit in Brussels of the year.
There is no doubt that the
punitive measures will be prolonged beyond their current expiry date of
end-January, they said.
The formal procedure to do
that should conclude around Dec. 20, the sources added.
(Reporting by Gabriela
Baczynska, Alastair Macdonald, Robin Emmott; editing by John Stonestreet)
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