MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, European Council President Donald Tusk said the leaders of the EU member states decided to extend economic sanctions against Russia.
"[It is] another defeat of EU diplomacy in the Ukrainian direction. An initially incorrect perception of the situation led to an initially wrong approach toward its settlement… Today's decision will not bring anything new and especially constructive or creative in this situation [in Donbass] stagnated because of Kiev’s fault," the chairman of the upper house of the Russian parliament's international affairs committee said.
Kosachev added that the European Union succumbed to anti-Russian policy of Kiev, which was sabotaging the implementation of the Minsk agreements.
On Tuesday, the press materials related to the European Council meeting in Brussels on June 22-23 showed that German Chancellor Angela Merkel and France's President Macron were expected to inform the EU leaders on the developments of the issue at the meeting. This would lead to taking the official decision concerning the prolongation of the anti-Russia sanctions linked to the full implementation of the ceasefire deal shortly after the meeting.
