European Union renews economic sanctions against Russia through 2022
The EU council called on Russia to 'unconditionally withdraw' from Ukraine
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Council of the European Union announced Tuesday that it will be renewing sanctions against Russia for at least six additional months.
"The Council today decided to prolong by six months, until 31 January 2023, the restrictive measures targeting specific sectors of the economy of the Russian Federation," the press release stated as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues through its fifth month.
The sanctions, which the EU first imposed in 2014 and later expanded in February 2022, consist of restrictions on finance, energy, technology and other industries.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"In addition to the economic sanctions on the Russian Federation, the EU has in place different types of measures in response to Russia's destabilizing actions against Ukraine," the press release added. "These include: restrictions on economic relations with the illegally annexed Crimea and the city of Sevastopol as well as the non-government controlled areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts; individual restrictive measures (asset freezes and travel restrictions) on a broad range of individuals and entities, and diplomatic measures."
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Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting on the country's transport industry via a video link in Sochi, Russia May 24, 2022. (Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Kremlin via Reuters)
The council also called on Russia to "immediately stop" attacks against civilians in Ukraine and to "unconditionally withdraw" all troops and equipment from the region.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Russia continued its offensive onslaught in Ukraine this week, including targeted airstrikes in the Black Sea regions of Odesa and Mykolaiv.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, attends a meeting with military officials during his visit the war-hit Dnipropetrovsk region. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP, File)
In the Odesa region, a number of private buildings in villages on the coast were hit and caught fire, the report said. In the Mykolaiv region, port infrastructure was targeted.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Hours after the renewed strikes on the south, a Moscow-installed official in the southern Kherson region said the Odesa and Mykolaiv regions will soon be "liberated" by the Russian forces, just like the Kherson region further east.
A local resident walks next to a house destroyed in a Russian shelling in Kramatorsk, Ukraine. Two American were reportedly killed in the country. (AP Photo/Andriy Andriyenko)
The developments came as Ukraine appeared to be preparing a counteroffensive in the south.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Associated Press contributed to this report