EU has seven more days to close sanctions on territorial integrity

“ O Coreper met again this afternoon to discuss the extension of Ukraine's territorial integrity regime. In order to give the Member States more time to look at the renewal proposals in a comprehensive manner, Coreper agreed to extend the regime for a period of seven days until midnight on Tuesday 22 September,” the Irish Presidency of the EU Council said.

The extension of a week allows us to avoid interruption of measures as negotiations on their renewal continue, at a time when Slovakia opposes the extension of sanctions for one year, according to European diplomatic sources.

“ Consultations will continue and further discussions are expected to take place in Coreper in due course,” the same source added.

The scheme concerned is that of individual sanctions relating to the territorial integrity of Ukraine, which covers around 2,600 persons and entities and includes the freezing of assets and the prohibition of making funds available to the sanctioned persons.

For natural persons, it also includes restrictions on entry into the EU.

The measures should expire on 15 September, so the seven-day extension allows them to remain in force as long as countries try to reach agreement on their renewal.

For the Irish presidency of the EU Council, “renewal of designations is essential to continue to weaken Russia’s war machine and maintain pressure on the people and entities who support it, enable it to function and benefit from it”.

The sanctions under discussion are different from the economic sanctions against Russia, which cover sectors such as energy, trade and finance and have recently been extended by the EU.

The new deadline for trying to close the agreement on these individual sanctions is September 22nd.

Russia invaded Ukraine on a large scale in February 2022 and since then Kyiv has relied on EU support.