The restrictions will remain in effect until midnight Sept. 22 while member states negotiate a longer-term decision.
The extension was announced by a spokesperson for Ireland’s presidency of the Council of the EU, according to Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne.
EU ambassadors on Sept. 14 again discussed extending the sanctions regime targeting individuals and organizations involved in aggression against Ukraine.
On Sept. 9, the EU also failed to extend individual restrictions against more than 2,600 Russian individuals and entities accused of violating Ukraine’s territorial integrity. The sanctions were set to expire Sept. 15.
The EU had planned to extend the restrictions for one year, instead of the current six-month period. Slovakia opposed the move and demanded that two Russian oligarchs, Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman, be removed from the sanctions list.
France also does not support extending sanctions against
Usmanov. Paris has not disclosed the reasons for its position. A French
diplomat told Suspilne that France supports extending the sanctions, but that
negotiations on the issue remain confidential.