The European Union has agreed to extend the sanctions against Russia for six months, European Council President Donald Tusk announced on June 22.

“Agreed. EU will extend economic sanctions against Russia for their lack of implementing the Minsk Agreement,” Tusk tweeted.

Prolongation of the sanctions from the EU side was confirmed to TASS earlier by an unnamed diplomatic source at the EU summit, while adding that some Union members spoke out against automatic extension of sanctions.

The decision still needs to be approved at the ambassador level and be published in the Official Journal of the European Union before it comes into force. If not prolonged, the sanctions would expire on July 31.

The EU and US introduced sanctions against Russia in 2014 in response to its   annexation of Crimea and involvement in the separatist conflict in East Ukraine. The lifting of the sanctions has been conditioned by the implementation of the Minsk peace agreements reached in 2015 to end the conflict.

The US has just expanded its basic sanctions package, with the US Treasury adding 38 individuals and organisations to the Russia sanctions list on June 20. 

“US sanctions on Russia related to the situation in eastern Ukraine will remain in place until Russia fully honors its obligations under the Minsk Agreements,” the Department of the Treasury said.

Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told on June 20 that Russia will start designing counter-sanctions as a response to the latest US move.

Meanwhile, a bill significantly broadening the Russia sanctions by sectors has run into delays in the US House of Representatives after the Senate passed the measures by 98-2 votes on June 13. However, instead of building on this momentum, the Republican leadership in the House sent it to the Foreign Affairs Committee for review.

“We all know that the Russians tried to interfere in our [2016 Presidential] elections,” Republican John McCain said amid the delays. “Here we are six months later and we’ve done nothing.”

Moscow rejects claims that it tried to use cyber hacking to influence the outcome of the US polls in November which saw the election of Donald Trump as president.