BRUSSELS, July 26. (EUROPEAN PRESS) –
The European Council has approved this Tuesday to extend for six months the sanctions imposed in 2014 against Russia and reinforced by the invasion of Ukraine, unleashed on February 24 by the invasion order given by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, with which the measures will be standing until January 31, 2023.
“These sanctions, first imposed in 2014 in response to Russia’s actions to destabilize the situation in Ukraine, have been significantly expanded since February 2022 in the face of unprovoked and unjustified military aggression against Ukraine,” the council said. European in a statement.
Thus, he recalled that these punitive measures “consist at the moment of a wide spectrum of sectoral measures, including restrictions on finance, energy, technology and dual-use goods, as well as industry, transport and consumer goods. luxury”.
The organization has recalled that, in addition to economic sanctions, there are a series of measures in place in response to Russia’s “destabilizing” actions against Ukraine, including restrictions on economic relations with the Crimean peninsula, annexed in 2014, and the city ??of Sevastopol, as well as the areas controlled by the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.
To these are added restrictive measures against individuals, including asset freezes and travel restrictions, as well as diplomatic measures. The European Council has highlighted that “since February 24, the EU has adopted a series of unprecedented sanctions packages” in the face of the Russian military offensive against Ukrainian territory.
The bloc has condemned the invasion, which “violates Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”, and called on Russia to end its attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure and immediately withdraw its troops and military equipment from Ukraine’s territory.
