British Foreign Secretary Confirms EU to Extend Anti-Russia Sanctions

The EU will prolong the sanctions for another six months.

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) – The European Union on Monday will extend economic sanctions against Russia for another six months, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond announced before an EU Council meeting on foreign relations in Luxembourg.

"First of all, we will agree formally the rollover of sanctions against Russia until it meets its Minsk obligations, so, another six months of sanctions," Hammond said, arriving at the EU Foreign Affairs Council.

The EU foreign ministers are expected to make a formal decision to extend its sanctions against Russia over the country's alleged involvement in the Ukrainian crisis later on Monday.

In 2014, the European Union, as well as its allies, imposed several rounds of sanctions against Russia, accusing it of meddling in the Ukrainian crisis. Russia has repeatedly denied its involvement in the Ukrainian crisis, instead advocating a peaceful solution to the conflict.

In February, Moscow, alongside Berlin, Paris and Kiev, devised a list of measures on settling the crisis in Ukraine, called the Minsk agreement. The agreement stipulates a ceasefire, effective in eastern Ukraine since February 15, the withdrawal of heavy weaponry from the contact line and constitutional reforms in Ukraine, among other points.