Azernews.Az

By Fatma Alakbarova

The European Union extended economic sanctions against Russia until mid-2017.

The restrictions which were introduced in 2014 following the events in Ukraine were due to expire on January 31 will now run until July 31, 2017, the European Council confirmed in a statement.

The decision endorsed by the EU national leaders put restrictive measures targeting Russia's financial, energy and defense sectors.

The economic sanctions prolonged by this decision embargo the import and export of certain energy-related equipment and military material until at least July 31. The embargo will be applied for goods that can be used for both civilian and military purposes and target other five major Russian majority state-owned financial institutions as well.

The one big question is whether Brussels prolongs the sanctions because of the positive feedbacks in terms of the conflict resolution or there is no door left open for the European leaders rather than extending insufficient embargos.

Addressing the EU decision NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg noted that the sanctions have been prolonged because Russia has violated international law and must pay for it.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande voiced support for extended sanctions, as they faulted Russia for a failure to fulfill its obligations under the Minsk accords.

However, the success of EU embargos in terms of an improvement in the resolution of the Ukraine crisis is highly doubted. In fact, the data by Federal State Statistics Service that Russia’s agriculture and food industry have increased production making the country self-sufficient.

Meanwhile, the Russian government itself has extended counter-sanctions and the European business is affected by these measures no less than the Federation. The officials claim that Russia has reduced the profits of European business and thus, the sanctions imposed by the Brussels are nothing but failed attempts. The Kremlin claims that the extension of sanctions as an inevitable event. The EU with its “idealist values and principles” failed to worsen the Russian economy and could not make any pressure, so they have decided to prolong the embargo, say local experts.

Another group of experts believes that with the new U.S. administration the situation may change, given the fact that Trump is too unpredictable. The Russian presidential elections of 2018 may cause some changes in government’s position.

Russia has been targeted by several rounds of sanctions imposed an array of economic sanctions on banking, energy and defense sectors inflicted by the European Union and Washington in light of Crimea’s reunification with Russia in 2014.

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