NOVO-OGARYOVO, October 13. /TASS/. The European Union is unlikely to extend its sanctions against Russia, the Russian Economic Development Minister Alexey Ulyukayev said on Monday.

"These sanctions have fixed terms of no more than a year," Alexey Ulyukayev said. "Therefore, I believe we can expect them to be cancelled."

He also said that in this case Russia could revoke its retaliatory measures against the EU.

Western sanctions and Russia's retaliatory measures

The European Union and the United States imposed the latest batch of sectoral sanctions against Russia on September 12 despite the deal on a ceasefire, signed in Minsk a week before, between Kiev and the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s republics (DPR and LPR) in the embattled southeast of Ukraine.

The new US sanctions list includes Sberbank, Bank of Moscow, Gazprombank, Rosselkhozbank, Vnesheconombank, and VTB. Now they cannot borrow for a period of more than 30 days. The US has also blocked the assets of five defense enterprises and banned the export of goods, services and technologies for projects carried out by Gazprom, Gazprom Neft, Lukoil, Surgutneftegaz and Rosneft.

Russia came under Western punitive measures, originally visa bans and asset freezes, for incorporation of Crimea in mid-March after a coup in Ukraine in February. Later, Western claims that Russia is taking part in hostilities in southeast Ukraine, which Moscow has repeatedly denied, resulted in more serious, sectoral, restrictions.

In response, Moscow imposed on August 7 a one-year ban on imports of beef, pork, poultry, fish, cheeses, fruit, vegetables and dairy products from Australia, Canada, the EU, the United States and Norway.