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The leaders of the European Union (EU) on Thursday decided to extend economic sanctions against Russia until July 2017, two EU diplomats have said.
The sanctions, which ban Russian imports into the EU and Russian banks’ access to European markets, were expected to expire on Jan. 31.
The sanctions were adopted in response to Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula and its support for separatists in the east of the country.
On Tuesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande called on their EU partners to retain sanctions against Russia if Moscow failed to fully implement the Minsk accord for peace in the region.
The sanctions were first instituted on July 2014 after the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 with 298 people on board over eastern Ukraine.
Western countries and Ukraine accused pro-Russian separatists of using a Russian rocket to shoot down the plane, an accusation Russia denies.