The Council of the EU has extended economic penalties against Russia by six months, according to the report of that body. It is noted that the limits "on individual sectors of the Russian economy" is extended to July 31, 2019. The political decision to extend the limits of the EU Leaders adopted at the conference on 13 December. On the last working day of the week, the Council unanimously approved it by written procedure. The sanctions target the financial, energy and defense sectors, as well as dual-use items. The European Union for the first time introduced their 31 Jul 2014 the confrontation in the Donbass for a period of one year, they were strengthened in September 2014. The leaders of the countries - EU members in March 2015 tied their action to the full implementation of the Minsk agreements. earlier, Russia's permanent representative to the EU Vladimir Chizhov said that the Union is in the process of rethinking a dead-end course of punishment, and even, perhaps, more active than before. according to him, relations between Russia and the EU are still in an abnormal state, although the number of formats of communication are still supported. "I can say that the outgoing year was a year of missed opportunities in relations," he said. anyway hope to improve relations, said the Ambassador. "The hope we have, when and in what form it will happen, I will not speculate. I can say that in regard to the sanctions regime, the so-called punishment, because in reality, this unilateral restrictive Action in this matter, the EU is currently hosted in a kind of unstable equilibrium, " he finished Chizhov. <span style="color:darkgray