EU extends sanctions against Russia as Ukraine conflict rumbles on

The European Union has extended economic sanctions against Russia until January to keep pressure on Moscow over the conflict in eastern Ukraine, drawing a rebuke and a warning of retaliation from Russian officials.

An EU statement released on Monday said the decision was taken without debate by the bloc’s foreign ministers at a meeting in Luxembourg, in response to “Russia’s destabilising role in eastern Ukraine”.

The sanctions include limits to access on some financial markets, a ban on certain technologies and exchanges between the bloc and Russia in energy and defence sectors. Enacted last July and reinforced in September, the sanctions had been due to expire in July. They are now expected to expire on 31 January.

In response, Russia extended its ban on the import of many agricultural products from the EU.

“Since they were extended, we will act on the principle of reciprocity,” saida spokesman for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

Fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed rebels has killed more than 6,400 people in eastern Ukraine and persists despite a ceasefire agreed in February.

The Russian foreign ministry said in a statement that it was “deeply disappointed that once again in the EU, the view of the Russophobic lobby has prevailed” in the extension of the “illegal restrictions”.

The ministry said it was wrong to hold Russia fully responsible for the implementation of the Ukraine peace agreement and that the key to a settlement was in Kiev’s hands.

The ministry also said “it looks particularly cynical” that the EU made the decision on 22 June, the date in 1941 when Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union. Russia still holds memorial services on this day.

“We would like to believe that this is a coincidence, not a specially designed step,” the ministry statement said.