BRUSSELS, March 19. The head of the European Council, Donald Tusk and the leaders of Germany and France, Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande decided to extend the anti-Russian sanctions at least until the end of 2015, since it is the deadline for the restoration of Ukraine’s full control over its boundary. It is reported by Reuters.
At a press conference before the EU summit, to be held from March 19 to 20, Tusk urged European leaders to continue the pressure on Russia to the full implementation of the agreements Minsk.
In this case, a formal decision to extend the sanctions, which expire in July, will not be accepted until the EU summit, scheduled for June.
The sources in the European Union said Reuters, which, in their opinion, the compromise version Tusk, Merkel and Hollande afford to win unanimous support, despite disagreements among European leaders on the issue of sanctions.
Earlier, German Chancellor Angela Merkel advocated a binding sanctions against Russia in the course of implementation of the Minsk Agreement on Ukraine. In her opinion, it would be wrong to take sanctions against the Russian Federation in the performance of only the first points of agreements on the settlement of the conflict in the Donbass.
On Friday in Brussels starts a two-day summit of EU leaders. The focus of European politicians will be the situation in Ukraine and relations with Russia. It clarifies the RBC, the stumbling block in the run-up to the summit of the EU began expiring in July restrictions against the energy, financial and defense sectors of the Russian economy.
Great Britain, the Scandinavian and Baltic countries were in favor of an early extension of these sanctions to demonstrate the seriousness of Russia the intentions of the European Union. France, Italy and Spain are afraid to provoke Moscow and jeopardize a truce in the Donbass.
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