Bloomberg: Seven countries of the European Union are opposed to anti -Russian sanctions

The seven countries of the European Union will oppose the further expansion of sanctions against Russia, Bloomberg reports with reference to its own sources. According to the agency, we are talking about Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, Spain, Cyprus, Italy and Greece.

In February, Moscow was visited by the head of Cyprus Nikos Anastasiadis and the Prime Minister of Italy Matteo Renzi, the latter was awarded as the Putin's privileged partner, Bloomberg said. In April, the arrival of the new Prime Minister of Greece Alexis Tsipras is expected to Moscow.

“The probable result is that they will not agree to prolong the sanctions now, and they will postpone until the last moment before the sanctions expire,” the former British diplomat Jan Bond explained to the agency.

The fact that the EU countries could not come to a consensus on the extension of six months of economic sanctions against Russia was previously reported by the British newspaper The Financial Times with reference to diplomatic sources occupied by the coordination of positions. In recent weeks, France, Italy and Spain have been opposed to the tightening of sanctions, which made it clear that the early extension of the sanctions, in their opinion, would provoke Moscow, and will jeopardize the Minsk truce.

Reuters, citing European diplomats, also reported that the EU leaders are unlikely to decide on tightening sanctions against Russia at the nearest summit on March 19–20. The main debates will unfold around whether the EU should signal their determination to expand economic sanctions or wait, looking at how the Minsk agreements are being implemented.

On March 13, the European Union officially extended personal sanctions against Russia for six months. They were introduced in 2014 and covered a total of 150 individuals and 37 legal entities.