OREANDA-NEWS. The leaders of the EU member countries at the summit in Brussels made a political decision to extend for six months the economic sanctions against Russia, which expire on January 31, 2020. This was announced on Thursday to journalists on the sidelines of the summit by the representative of the European Council Barend Lates.

A source in the delegation of one of the countries of the community told a Russian media correspondent that the decision to extend the sanctions for six months was made after German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron briefly informed the rest of the leaders on the implementation of the Minsk settlement agreements in Ukraine in the light of the “Norman format” summit held on December 9 in Paris. "Macron and Merkel very briefly informed about the implementation of the Minsk agreements, after which it was decided to renew the restrictive measures against Moscow again", the source said.

Now, he said, a political decision should be formalized. "It is expected that in the next two weeks, perhaps not even the next week, the Council will approve a formal decision, which will be published in the Official Journal of the EU and will enter into force", he explained.