EU Imposes Sanctions on More Individuals, Companies Over Ukraine Crisis

BRUSSELS, November 27 (Sputnik) – The European Union has imposed sanctions on 13 individuals and companies related to the self-proclaimed Ukrainian republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, an EU diplomat told RIA Novosti Thursday.

Their names will be made public when the updated blacklist comes into force in the next few days, the source said.

On November 17, the foreign affairs ministers of the European Union ordered EU bodies to add more independence supporters from eastern Ukraine to the bloc's sanctions list by the end of the month.

The conflict in Ukraine's eastern regions escalated in mid-April when Kiev launched a military operation against independence supporters in Donbas. The conflicting sides agreed on a ceasefire at a meeting of the trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine on September 5 in Minsk and adopted a memorandum specifying the implementation of the ceasefire at another Contact Group meeting on September 19. Both sides have subsequently accused each other of violating the truce.

Over the past few months, the European Union, the United States and a number of their allies have imposed several rounds of sanctions targeting Russia's banking, energy and defense sectors, as well as a number of senior Russian lawmakers over Moscowэs alleged role in the escalation of the Ukrainian crisis.

The leaders of the Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics were also subjected to EU travel bans and asset freezes. At the moment the EU sanctions list consists of 119 individuals and 23 entities.

On Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Western sanctions against Russia will not be lifted while the situation in Donbas remains tense.