E.U. Council extends sanctions against Russia for Ukraine occupation

The E.U. Council decided last week to extend a series
of sanctions against Russia for its illegal occupation of Ukrainian lands, the
eurointegration.com.ua news site reported. First on June 18, it decided to
extend for a year sanctions for the illegal occupation of Crimea that include
prohibitions on Crimean exports to the E.U., certain imports from the E.U.,
tourism activity in Crimea, and E.U. investments in Crimea, particularly in
energy, transportation, and telecommunications. The next day, the E.U. Council
extended for six months sanctions related to the occupation of Donbas and the
lack of progress in fulfilling the Minsk Accords. Ukrainian Foreign Minister
Dmytro Kuleba wrote tweets thanking the E.U. for its ongoing support.

The situation on fulfilling the Minsk Accords to
resolve the warfare in Donbas is “potentially very dangerous,” Russian
presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a television talk show on June 20. “The
words that are uttered increasingly often about the optionality or
impossibility of fulfilling the Minsk Accords can’t not evoke concern. And, of
course, if this will be sounded more often, and if this will gain the form of
absolutely official statements, then, of course, this will bring the situation
to a dead end because there isn’t any other format for work in the Ukrainian
tangent,” he said.

Zenon Zawada: The negotiations to resolve the armed conflict in Donbas are already at
a dead end, and we see no way out at this point. President Zelensky will
continue to toe the line set by the Western establishment. So if the Russians
want to move from the current stalemate, they will have to do it themselves by
changing the political situation inside Ukraine. They are currently acting on
many fronts, including engaging in spying, committing suspected sabotage, provoking social tensions, forming new political parties, backing
anti-Western protest movements, inflicting economic damage, and acquiring mass media and industrial assets.