EU extends sanctions over threat to Ukrainian sovereignty

BRUSSELS

The EU on Friday extended its sanctions over the violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity for another six months, the Council of the EU announced.

The blacklist currently includes 177 people and 48 entities who are “responsible for undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence of Ukraine,” a statement said.

The targeted individuals are not allowed to travel to the EU.

The bloc also prohibits the EU actors from making funds available for blacklisted people and entities and imposes a freeze on their assets.

The decision renews sanctions until March 15, 2022.

The bloc has been applying restrictive measures in response to the Ukrainian crisis since 2014.

Separate economic sanctions on the Russian finance, energy, and defense sectors are also in place because of Moscow’s reluctance to fully implement the Minsk agreement meant to establish a cease-fire in Eastern Ukraine.

The bloc also applies a sanctions regime over the illegal annexation of Crimea and the port of Sevastopol till June 23.

At the first International Crimea Platform Summit in August, European Council President Charles Michel stated that the bloc would never recognize the illegal annexation of Crimea and criticized Russia.

Russian forces entered the Crimean Peninsula in February 2014, with President Vladimir Putin formally dividing the region into two separate federal subjects of the Russian Federation the following month.

Turkey, the EU, and the US, as well as the UN General Assembly, view the annexation as illegal.