In the next two weeks the Council of the Committee of Permanent Representatives in the European Union (Coreper) will begin its work preparing proposals for the heads of EU Member States on the extension of economic sanctions against Russia. RIA Novosti reports that sources close to EU leadership believe that during the summit in December, members will decide on the renewal of these measures, presumably for another six months. 

According to one source, the draft document on economic sanctions against Russia for the European Union has not yet been prepared.  It confirmed that EU leaders at the summit on 17-18 December will discuss the final decision on proposed sanctions. 

According to another source, Coreper will begin its work on a draft final communiqué next week, where most likely, the decision on sanctions will be prescribed.  Next week the group is expected to work on the "direction" of the summit decisions.  After which, they will release "the first draft of the conclusions" of the summit.  The leaders at the summit can decide to prolong the sanctions as well as instruct the EU services to complete the legal work on this issue.  After that the task will be to work out the necessary legal text to prolong the restrictive measures, the source said.
Both sources said that the sanctions will most likely be extended for six months, as has been the practice of the EU in the past.  As noted, the final EU decision to extend economic sanctions should wait until 31 January 2016 when the initial period expires.

  Russia, Ukraine, Sanctions, War in Ukraine

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