Following the Prime Minister-s announcement to the House of Commons, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on Tuesday 22 February designated the initial tranche of sanctions on Russia. The sanctions package targets oligarchs and banks associated with the Kremlin.
European Union leaders agreed on Thursday to prolong economic sanctions against Russia over the turmoil in Ukraine until the end of January 2020, a spokesman for the bloc said. The EU first slapped sanctions on Russia after Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014 and supported rebels fighting Kiev troops in the east of the country. That conflict, which killed 13,000 people, is still simmering.