BRUSSELS, December 21. / TASS /. The European Union has officially extended economic sanctions against Russia for six more months, which expire on January 31, 2019, the EU Council press service said on Friday.

"On December 21, 2018, the Council extended economic sanctions against specific sectors of the Russian economy until July 31, 2019," it said in a statement. The document notes that this decision is because "there is no progress in the implementation of the Minsk agreements". The political decision to extend the restrictive measures was made by the heads of state and government of the European Union at the December 13 summit. It was based on a brief report by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron on "progress in the implementation of the Minsk agreements".

Economic sanctions against Russia were put into effect on July 31, 2014, after the crash of the Malaysian Boeing flight MH17 over Donbass. Since then, they have been renewed every six months in unchanged form. In March 2015, the EU summit decided that sanctions could be lifted only after the implementation of the Minsk agreements.