FXStreet (Mumbai) – Apart from extending the existing penalties imposed on Russia, ambassadors from the 28 EU states at their Wednesday meeting also unanimously approved an extension of a ban on investment in Crimea by one year.
The sanctions will be extended by 6 months until January 31, 2016. The decision is expected to be formally ratified by the EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg next Monday.
Sanctions against Russia were first imposed in July 2014 as a united response over Russia’s role in Ukraine events, its annexation of Crimea and support for Russian-speaking separatists in eastern Ukraine.
The EU imposed penalties target Russia’s energy, defense and financial sectors. The US imposed its own sanctions on Moscow. Russian state banks and corporations, including three major state oil and gas giants: Rosneft, Transneft and Gazprom Neft.
Both the EU and US have also imposed a travel ban on senior Russian officials, separatist commanders and representatives of Russian companies accused of undermining Ukrainian sovereignty.
(Market News Provided by FXstreet)