News / Russia

Russia slams EU's 'short-sighted' decision for extending bans

Friday, 01 July 2016 4:37 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 01 July 2016 5:17 PM ]

A view of the Russian Foreign Ministry's building in Moscow (Reuters photo)

Russia slammed as "fruitless and short-sighted" a decision by European Union Friday to formally extend the economic sanctions against Moscow over its alleged involvement in the conflict in Ukraine.

The EU’s move is "a continuation of the short-sighted policy of Brussels," Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement hours after the EU announced the extension of the bans.

The statement also slammed as "absurd" linking the sanctions to a failure in the implementation of a peace deal in eastern Ukraine.

“We also see drawing connections between the discriminatory measures against Russia and observation of the Minsk accords as absurd, given the fact that Russia is not a party to Ukraine’s internal conflict.”

The government in Kiev and pro-Russia forces signed the ceasefire agreement in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, in September 2014 in an attempt to halt the conflict. They agreed to 12 points, including pulling back heavy weapons, releasing prisoners, setting up a buffer zone on the Russia-Ukraine border, and allowing access to international observers.

The warring sides also inked another truce deal, dubbed Minsk II, in February 2015 under the supervision of Russia, Germany and France. Since then, however, both parties have, on numerous occasions, accused each other of breaking the ceasefire.

“In essence, the European Union has made Russian-EU relations a hostage to the Ukrainian regime’s irresponsible gambling,” the statement said.

The European Union extended the economic sanctions until January 2017.

The EU will prolong the sanctions which target Russia’s financial, energy and defense sectors because the provisions of the 2015 Minsk peace agreement were "not fully implemented."

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