Report: Russia faces another six months of EU sanctions

MOSCOW, Jun 10 (PRIME) -- The E.U. is set to roll over its Ukraine-related sanctions against Russia for a further six months despite signs of the mood towards Moscow softening in some of the bloc’s member states, the Financial Times reported late Thursday.

Diplomats had feared the move would spark a major political battle between states such as Hungary, Greece and Italy, which favor a rethink on sanctions, and the more hawkish states, including Poland and the Baltic countries, which want the regime to continue.

But officials in Brussels say the diplomatic path for the decision, which could come within the next fortnight, has been cleared after the more dovish states postponed their demands for a big rethink on the sanctions until a summit of E.U. leaders set for December.

The E.U. imposed the sanctions targeting financial services, energy and defense in response to the 2014 annexation of Crimea and Russia’s role in the Ukraine crisis.

Diplomats involved in the talks said critics of the Russia curbs were shying away from pressing for softer measures or a shorter three-month extension as implementation of the Minsk peace agreement on Ukraine falters and attention refocuses on Europe’s migration crisis.

While there is still a discussion over whether the final decision will be taken at a summit of E.U. leaders in late June, officials say there is little doubt the sanctions, which are due to expire on July 31, will be prolonged for six months.

The rollover is likely to be approved by a meeting of ambassadors, with E.U. leaders formally adopting the decision without debate. “It is all but done,” said one diplomat.

But some countries are considering whether to send a political signal to Moscow at the same time, hinting that Europe’s sanctions policy is nearing a turning point, said one senior diplomat involved in the talks, without giving further details.

One senior official with reservations over sanctions said: “Sooner or later we need a deep and detailed discussion on the Russia sanctions, but I expect the December (summit) will be the right moment for this.”

Rolling the sanctions over will demonstrate the uneasy unity within the bloc on a potentially divisive issue. But the move comes amid growing signs of a changing political mood, with some E.U. leaders showing readiness to deal with Moscow on a series of economic as well as unrelated political issues.

Jean-Claude Juncker, European Commission president, and Matteo Renzi, Italian prime minister, will next week court controversy among hawkish E.U. members with their expected attendance at a St. Petersburg conference hosted by Vladimir Putin, Russian president.

In France, the Senate overwhelmingly voted through a non-binding resolution on Wednesday calling for sanctions on Russia to be “gradually and partially” lifted. However, the move is not expected to change French president Francois Hollande’s support for a six-month rollover, according to officials briefed on the Paris position.

Germany, France, Italy and the UK paved the way for a rollover decision at the G7 summit last month, with leaders concluding they had little choice because of the patchy implementation of the Minsk accord.

However, northern European diplomats said the smooth passage of an automatic rollover in part rested on expectations that “this will be the last time we do this, at least with a full rollover”.

“Minsk is running out, German and French patience is running out,” said one, adding that the issue would set the stage for a “difficult fall”.

Italy, one of the more dovish E.U. members on Russia sanctions, is unlikely to put any major obstacles in the way of the rollover in the coming weeks.

Although Rome is still calling for “political reflection” on the impact of the Russia sanctions — code for questioning their wisdom — officials have signaled that, for now, this is not a priority.

The rollover discussion does not necessarily need to take place at this month’s E.U. leaders’ summit but could happen at the lower ambassadorial level, said one, adding: “Our focus at the next (summit) is immigration, not so much the Russia question.”

One senior central European official said Italy, Greece and Hungary favored more frequent discussion of the Russia sanctions, which are reviewed every six months. But there was little room for these states to press their case on sanctions at this month’s summit because of the focus on the E.U. immigration crisis, he said.

Moscow has brushed off the looming decision as an attempt by the E.U. to “demonstrate unity on at least something” during a period of turmoil over the U.K. referendum on its membership in the E.U., migration and the eurozone crisis.

“When the unity of the 28 member states becomes a goal in itself, it always happens at the expense of the quality of the common position,” Vladimir Chizhov, Russian ambassador to the E.U., told Russia Direct, the media outlet.

“As far as the sanctions are concerned, we don’t discuss them with the E.U.,” he added. “It is a problem of their making… When they manage to solve it, they know where to find us.”

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