EU extends economic sanctions against Russia for 6 months

By Agnes Szucs

BRUSSELS (AA) – The European Union extended on Tuesday economic sanctions imposed on Russia over its war in Ukraine for another six months.

The Council of the European Union, representing EU member states, announced in a statement that it has prolonged “by six months, until 31 January 2023, the restrictive measures targeting specific sectors of the economy of the Russian Federation.”

The sanctions include a ban on gold, oil, and coal imports, prohibit the export of luxury goods, restrictions on the trade of technology and dual-use goods, and exclude Russian and Belarusian banks from using the SWIFT international payment system.

The bloc has applied sanctions since 2014 over the violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, which were significantly widened after the war in February.

Since then, the EU adopted in total seven sets of sanctions against Russia, including the economic sanctions and expanded its blacklist imposing a travel ban and asset freeze on people responsible for the war.

The bloc has a separate sanctions regime over the illegal annexation of Sevastopol and Crimea.

Brussels has urged Moscow to immediately stop its “special military operation” in Ukraine, and has provided Kyiv economic, military and humanitarian support.