EU leaders agree to extend Russia sanctions again

European Union leaders agreed on Thursday to extend economic sanctions imposed on Russia for its intervention in Ukraine by another six months, a spokesman for European Council President Charles Michel said. The sanctions will be formally prolonged until July 31, 2021, with leaders considering the next rollover in June.

European Union leaders agreed on Thursday to extend economic sanctions imposed on Russia for its intervention in Ukraine by another six months, a spokesman for European Council President Charles Michel said. "Agreement on ... the roll over of the sanctions against Russia," the spokesman, Barend Leyts, tweeted, confirming the bloc's judgment that Moscow had failed to implement the conditions of the Minsk peace agreement.

The EU hit Russia's energy, financial and arms sectors over Moscow's role in the conflict in Ukraine, and prolonged them repeatedly as the Kremlin vows not to return the peninsula to Kyiv and a frozen conflict has taken hold in Ukraine's east. The sanctions will be formally prolonged until July 31, 2021, with leaders considering the next rollover in June.