The European Union extended its economic sanctions on Russia for an additional six months on Monday, justifying the decision with what it called its “destabilizing behavior” in Ukraine, in reference to the Russian war on Ukraine.
The European Council said in a statement that the restrictive measures first introduced in 2014 against Russia have been extended until January 31, 2025.
The statement noted that EU sanctions against Moscow expanded significantly after Russia’s military attack on Ukraine in February 2022.
The European Union has announced 14 packages of sanctions against Russia since 2014. In this context, a wide range of restrictions are imposed on Russia, including trade, finance, energy, industry, technology, transport, dual-use products, luxury products, gold and diamonds, oil and coal.
The sanctions include a ban on the import of seaborne crude oil and some petroleum products from Russia into the EU, the exclusion of some Russian banks from the SWIFT international payment system, and the suspension of the activities of several broadcasting organizations.
The duration of economic sanctions imposed by the European Union on Russia is extended every 6 months.
Russia annexed Crimea and the city of Sevastopol on March 18, 2014, and in the same year the European Union imposed economic sanctions on Moscow for the first time.
On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a war on Ukraine, demanding that Kiev abandon plans to join NATO as a condition for ending it.
Russia invaded Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions on September 30, 2022, by order of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
