20 June 2017, 00:14 GMT
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – On Monday, the Council of the European Union made a decision to extend the sanctions in a number of spheres, such as imports of products, investment, tourism services, transport, telecommunications among others, until June 23, 2018.
According to the EU legislation, the decision comes into force after its publication in the journal.
Crimea seceded from Ukraine and reunified with Russia after more than 96 percent of its residents supported such a move through a referendum in March 2014. The referendum was held after new authorities took power in Kiev after what many considered to be a coup.
The European Union, as well as Ukraine and several other countries, did not recognize the move and regard the peninsula as an occupied territory. Russian authorities have repeatedly said that the Crimean population decided to rejoin Russia in a democratic procedure.
