The
EU’s decision to prolong the operation of the "black list" of Russian
and Ukrainian citizens for six months was announced on Tuesday.
MOSCOW,
March 14. /TASS/. The Minsk Accords have failed to be implemented to this day
through Kiev’s fault, so the EU Council’s decision to prolong sanctions against
Russia is regrettable, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has
said.
"The
EU’s decision is regrettable," she said. "There has been little
progress in implementing the Minsk Accords due to Kiev’s reluctance to comply
with its liabilities under these agreements."
"Russia’s retaliatory stop-list remains in effect, too, but this is no choice of ours," Zakharova said.
The EU’s
decision to prolong the operation of the "black list" of Russian and
Ukrainian citizens for six months was published in the Official Journal of the
European Union on Tuesday. It will take effect as of Wednesday, March 15 and
expire on September 15, 2017.
On the
sanction list there are the names of 150 individuals, including Russian
officials, politicians, businessmen and law enforcement officers, as well as
officials of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk republics. The names of
the former prime minister of the Lugansk People’s Republic Gennady Tsypkalov
and former commander of the Donetsk People’s Republic’s militia Arsen Pavlov
have been removed from the list after their death.
The list
has been complemented by the names of 37 organizations, all of them various
military and political agencies of the Lugansk and Donetsk republics the
European businesses are not allowed to have relations with. All those on the
sanction list are prohibited from entering the EU. Their assets in the European
banks, should any be found, are to be frozen.
