The European Union extended sanctions against Russia

The European Union extended economic sanctions against Russia, which expired in January 2019.

The head of the European Council, Donald Tusk, explained that such a decision is caused by "zero progress in the implementation of the Minsk agreements" to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. The sanctions are extended for six months.

Sanctions against Russia were imposed in 2014 due to conflict in the southeast of Ukraine. Another package of sanctions was adopted after the inclusion of Crimea in the territory of Russia. According to experts of Bloomberg, the Russian economy could grow by 10 %during this time, if not for sanctions. Earlier, the UN reported that since 2014, the Russian economy has lost $ 55 billion due to sanctions. The Russian authorities often, on the contrary, emphasized that sanctions help develop individual sectors of the Russian economy. For example, a response ban on the sale of products from the EU and the United States allegedly helped in the development of agriculture.