MOSCOW, September 10 (RIA Novosti) - EU delayed the implementation of sanctions against Russia, hoping that long-term ceasefire in eastern Ukraine will be maintained, a EU diplomatic source told RIA Novosti.
“Of course, we know that much attention was paid to the fact that we decided to delay implementation of new sanctions. We want to give Russia a chance to show its willingness to be honest and to show that it aims for de-escalation of situation in Ukraine. We want the ceasefire to be real and long-term,” the source said.
Earlier, Reuters reported that the ambassadors to the European Union countries have failed to reach a decision whether to implement new sanctions against Russia, and will continue discussions on Thursday.
According to the agency, Germany was pushing for sanctions to be implemented, while several other EU countries wanted to postpone the decision as the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine is holding.
If the EU countries agree on implementation of new sanctions tomorrow, they could be published in the Official Journal of the European Union on Friday.
On Monday, the European Union officially adopted a new round of sanctions against Russia over its alleged role in the Ukrainian crisis. The new sanctions list reportedly includes Russia’s Rosneft, Gazpromneft and Transneft energy firms, as well as state-run companies with a turnover of more than $27 billion annually.
Over the past few months, the United States and the European Union introduced several rounds of targeted sanctions against the Russian economy, unjustifiably blaming Moscow for meddling in Ukraine’s internal affairs.
As the Ukrainian crisis escalated, the United States persuaded its allies to add Russian individuals and entities to their own blacklists.
