EU Council extends economic sanctions against Russia for six months

The heads of state and governments of EU countries
decided at a Dec. 12 meeting of the EU Council to extend economic sanctions
against the Russian government for six months, the Ukrinform news agency
reported this morning. “We were informed of the results of the Normandy Summit,
which occurred on Monday in Paris. Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel renewed
information about the situation for us. We extended sanctions for the next six
months since implementing the Minsk Accords remains important. We will continue
to follow this,” said EU Council President Charles Michel.

The U.S. House of Representatives approved on Dec. 11
a military spending budget that includes sanctions against individuals and
firms involved in construction of the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline, the
eurointegration.com.ua news site reported the next morning. The sanctions are
imposed on the shipping companies involved in placing the pipeline in the sea floor,
and those individuals who were involved in selling, renting or offering these
boats for the construction of the pipeline. The sanctions involve a ban on U.S.
travel visas, and the cancellation of active visas, against the owners and
executives of these firms, as well as freezing their property and assets in the
U.S.

Zenon Zawada: The U.S.
continues to lead the campaign to impose more pressure against Russia for its
occupation of Ukraine. We don’t expect the EU to follow suit in punishing
Russia for the Nord Stream 2 project, which has emerged as a source of tension
in U.S.-EU relations. To its credit, and as some form of compensation, the EU
has continued to extend sanctions against Russia for as long as Donbas and
Crimea are occupied.

Allies to former President Poroshenko have been
raising alarm in the mass media that the EU will begin to relax sanctions
within a year. We believe that to be the case if a peace deal is reached, which
we believe is realistic next year. If Ukrainian President Zelensky isn’t able
to reach a peace deal, we expect he will have a lot of problems that include an
aggressive Russian campaign to discredit him in the West.