The European Union will extend economic sanctions against Russia until the period ending 31 January 2017.
Five different sources among European officials told Bloomberg that since Russia has not fulfilled its obligations under the Minsk Agreements, the sanctions will be extended. One official said that any other scenario is not on agenda.
Sanctions against Russia are on the provisional agenda of the EU summit, which will take place on 15-16 December.
The EU has adopted three packages of sanctions against Russian. The first introduced sanctions against individual citizens of Russia and Ukraine, whom Europe believed to be responsible for undermining the territorial integrity of Ukraine. These sanctions will be in force until 15 March 2017. Economic sectoral sanctions against Russia will be force until 31 January 2017. The validity of trade and investment sanctions against Crimea expires on 23 June 2017.