EU extends sanctions for Ukraine territory violations

By Agnes Szucs

BRUSSELS (AA) - The EU on Thursday officially extended its sanctions against violation of Ukraine’s territory for another six months.

The measures include travel restrictions and freezing of assets, targeting in total 175 people and 44 entities.

The decision renews sanctions until March 15, 2021.

The bloc introduced restrictive measures in 2014 in response to "actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence of Ukraine."

In June, the EU ministers approved two different sets of sanctions concerning the Ukrainian crisis.

Economic sanctions on the Russian finance, energy, and defense sectors were prolonged because of Moscow's reluctance to fully implement the Minsk agreement meant to establish a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine.

In a separate decision, the EU also extended its economic sanction against Crimea and the Port of Sevastopol.

Ukraine also blames the Kremlin for separatist violence in eastern Ukraine near the border with Russia. Some 13,000 people have been killed in that conflict, a quarter of them civilians, and as many as 30,000 wounded, the UN said last year.