REUTERS

United States Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker has called on Russia to get serious about implementing Minsk agreements.

"Strong signal from the EU that Russia needs to get serious about implementing Minsk agreements and choosing peace4Ukraine," he wrote on Twitter on December 13, commenting on the EU's decision to prolong economic sanctions against Russia for another six months.

As UNIAN reported earlier, the EU in 2014 imposed economic sanctions against the Russian Federation aimed at specific sectors of its economy. In March 2015, the EU leaders decided to peg the sanctions to the implementation of the Minsk peace agreements on Donbas. After that, the EU has repeatedly extended these sanctions for a new six-month period.

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The last time when the European Council extended economic sanctions, associated with Russia's banking, financial and energy sectors, for non-compliance with the Minsk agreements was on June 29, 2018. Said sanctions are expiring on January 31, 2019.

On December 13, heads of state and government of the European Union's member states decided to prolong economic sanctions against Russia for another six months.