By Beyza Binnur Donmez
ISTANBUL (AA) - The EU on Friday decided to prolong economic sanctions imposed on Russia over its war on Ukraine by another six months.
"The Council today decided to prolong by six months, until 31 July 2023, the restrictive measures targeting specific sectors of the economy of the Russian Federation," European Council said in a statement.
It noted that the sanctions were first introduced in 2014 "in response to Russia's actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine" and were significantly expanded after February 2022 "in light of Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified military aggression against Ukraine."
The nine packages of sanctions consist of a broad spectrum of sectoral measures, including restrictions on trade, finance, technology and dual-use goods, industry, transport and luxury goods.
They include travel restrictions, prohibition on imports of Russian-origin gold, ban on the import or transfer of seaborne crude oil and certain petroleum products from Russia to the EU, excluding key Russian banks from the SWIFT payments system, and the suspension of the broadcasting activities and licenses of several Kremlin-backed media outlets.