The Council of the European Union on June 29, 2020, decided to renew the sanctions targeting specific economic sectors of the Russian Federation for a further six months, until January 31, 2021.
"This decision follows the latest assessment of the state of implementation of the Minsk agreements – foreseen to take place by December 31, 2015, – at the video conference of the members of the European Council of June 19, 2020," the Council said in a statement on its website on June 29. "Given that full implementation has not yet been achieved, EU leaders took the political decision to roll-over the economic sanctions against Russia."
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Such restrictive measures were originally introduced in 2014 in view of Russia's destabilizing actions against Ukraine, and target the financial, energy and defense sectors, as well as the area of dual‑use goods, it said.
The sanctions limit access to EU primary and secondary capital markets for certain Russian banks and companies and prohibit forms of financial assistance and brokering towards Russian financial institutions. The measures also prohibit the direct or indirect import, export or transfer of all defense-related materiel and establish a ban for dual-use goods which may have military use or be used by military end users in Russia.
The sanctions further curtail Russian access to certain sensitive technologies that can be used in the Russian energy sector, for instance in oil production and exploration.
