On the first day of the two-day European Union summit, the leaders have agreed to extend the sanctions against Russia. EU leaders have officially confirmed a decision to extend sanctions against Russia over Crimea and Eastern Ukraine for another six months, the President of the European Council Donald Tusk announced during a European leaders summit in Brussels. Mr. Tusk tweeted, "Agreed. EU will extend economic sanctions against Russia for their lack of implementing the Minsk Agreement." The sanctions were imposed on Russia after it annexed Crimea in 2014 as a civil unrest toppled the legitimate government in Ukraine. The sanctions include an arms export ban, limited access to finance for Russian banks, and travel bans for over 150 individuals and more measures, specifically, prohibit financial interactions with Crimea.

Last week, the Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov accused the EU of dishonestly as it had promised in the past that sanctions will be removed as soon as Moscow complies with the Minsk agreement and urged the European leaders to read the agreement again to understand who should do what and in what order. Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko, who met with the U.S. President Donald Trump earlier in the week said that he is glad to hear that sanctions have been extended. However, the US Secretary of State said that U.S. is not handcuffed by Minsk agreement and might work to find solutions with Russia sidelining the agreement.