EU extends sanctions against Russian citizens for another six months

BRUSSELS, Sep 11, 2020, TASS. The European Union has extended sanctions against Russian and Ukrainian persons and entities over the crisis in Ukraine for another six months – until March 15, 2021, the Council of the European Union said in a statement on Thursday (Sep 10), TASS reported.

“Today the Council decided to extend the sanctions targeting persons and entities that continue to undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, for a further 6 months until 15 March 2021,” the statement reads.

“The decision was adopted by the Council by written procedure,” the Council noted, adding that the legal acts will be published in the Official Journal on September 11, 2020.

The European Union introduced sanctions against Russian and Ukrainian citizens “in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine” for the first time in the spring of 2014. The blacklist applies to 175 persons, among whom are Russian and Ukrainian citizens, as well as 44 entities, mainly bodies of authority and army units of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.

The existing restrictive measures provide for travel restrictions and the freezing of assets.