UPDATE2: Sources: France, Sweden ready to extend Russian sanctions

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BRUSSELS/MOSCOW, Jun 23 (PRIME) -- France and Sweden have already completed parliamentary procedures to support extension of E.U. sanctions against Russia, but it is still not clear when a final decision will be made, E.U. diplomatic sources told PRIME on Thursday.

“Yesterday France notified that the issue was considered by parliament and restrictions were lifted,” a source said. The Swedish parliament has also approved the decision, another source said.

Earlier a diplomatic source told PRIME that the U.K. is likely to need more time to decide on sanctions against Russia.

Earlier in the day, Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform reported citing a diplomatic source that discussion of a draft order to prolong economic sanctions against Russia in the E.U. Council was postponed because the document was not authorized by France.

The permanent representatives of the E.U. countries agreed to prolong the sanctions for six months on Tuesday. Making a final decision on the prolongation by the Council of the E.U. was preliminarily scheduled for Friday but according to the source, it is not on the agenda for the upcoming meeting.

Three countries used their right to discuss the sanctions bill in national parliaments, the U.K., Sweden and France, the source said. Whereas in the U.K. and Sweden the discussion was formal, French officials had some doubts regarding the future of the Russian sanctions, he said.

France’s Senate, the parliament’s upper house, approved a resolution calling for easing of the sanctions against Russia earlier in June.

Sources in the E.U. told PRIME that the delay will unlikely undermine an earlier decision to roll over the sanctions against Russia. “I can tell from experience that when a member country speaks for something at the level of the committee of permanent representatives, this means that it makes the decision consciously. It would not vote for a decision when there are reasons to perceive its failure,” a diplomat told PRIME on a condition of anonymity.

In 2014, relations between Russia and the West deteriorated to their worse since the Cold War due to a military conflict in Ukraine. The West introduced sanctions against some Russian individuals and firms and further against the energy and banking sectors. In response, Russia limited food imports from some countries, including the U.S., the E.U., Canada, Australia, and Norway.

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