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President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko says he expects from the European Union to take a strong stance toward new security challenges Russia is now posing in the Black and Azov Seas.

"I welcome the decision of the EU Council to extend for another year the "Crimean package" of sanctions against the Russian aggressor," Poroshenko wrote on Facebook.

"We are counting on the EU's rigid position on new security challenges from Russia in the Black and Azov Seas. We will discuss the issue with the EU leaders during the Summit on July 9," the president wrote.

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Read alsoEuropean Parliament condemns Russia's violation of human rights in occupied Crimea

As UNIAN reported, today, June 18, the Council of the European Union extended for another year, until June 23, 2019, a set of sanctions prohibiting European companies from investing in the Russian-occupied Crimea and importing goods from the peninsula.

Earlier, Petro Poroshenko stated that the priority of the Ukraine-EU summit, scheduled for July 9, would be the need to integrate Kyiv into the EU's energy, digital, and customs unions and the Schengen zone.