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Anti-Russian sanctions

No plans to extend anti-Russia sanctions expected at EU Council meeting — source

The diplomat noted that the EU still has time to make a decision on the matter until January 31 when sanctions are scheduled to expire

BRUSSELS, December 9. /TASS/. The EU’s top diplomats will not discuss an extension of economic sanctions against Russia on December 12, a high-level representative of the European Union told reports in Brussels on Friday.

"Sanctions will not be discussed at the Council meeting on Monday, this issue is not on the agenda," he stated.

The diplomat noted that the EU has time to make a decision on the matter until January 31 when sanctions are scheduled to expire. "We still have time to discuss this issue. But I can say that the preparatory work has already begun," he elaborated.

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According to the source, the extension of economic sanctions is unlikely to be included in the agenda of the EU summit scheduled to be held in Brussels on December 15-16. "I don’t think this issue will be included in the summit’s agenda," he noted.

On September 15, the European Union extended the ban of Russian and Ukrainian citizens and organizations for six months. The EU blacklist includes Russian officials, politicians, businessmen and law enforcement officers as well as almost all government members of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and Lugansk People’s Republic (DPR, LPR). There are also 37 organizations on the list including all the known military and political bodies of the DPR and LPR, European companies are not allowed to maintain any kind of relations with them.

The blacklist for Russia and Ukraine is only one of the three separate sanctions packages adopted by the EU. Apart from the blacklist, there are economic sanctions effective until late January 2017, while trade and visa restrictions against Crimea, effective till late June 2017, have been approved in accordance with the EU’s strategy on the non-recognition of Crimea’s reunification with Russia.

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