BRUSSELS, July 20. /TASS/. The EU Council has issued a six-month extension on all economic sanctions against Russia until the end of January 2024, the Council said in its statement.

"Today, the Council decided to prolong by six months, until January 31, 2024, the restrictive measures targeting specific sectors of the economy of the Russian Federation," the EU Council said.

The sanctions "currently consist of a broad spectrum of sectoral measures, including restrictions on trade, finance, technology and dual-use goods, industry, transport and luxury goods," the Council informed. "They also cover: a ban on the import or transfer of seaborne crude oil and certain petroleum products from Russia to the EU, a de-SWIFTing of several Russian banks, and the suspension of the broadcasting activities and licenses" of several Russian mass media outlets.

Sanctions were introduced for the first time on August 1, 2014 and have been renewed every six months since then based on claims that there has been no progress on the Minsk Agreement agreements. Sanctions were intensified in February 2022 as eleven new sanctions packages have been levied since then.