The European Union has postponed for a week new sanctions against Russia

The foreign ministers of the EU member states approved the expansion of the “black list” of Russian citizens and separatist leaders in eastern Ukraine, against whom visa and banking restrictions will be introduced, but delayed the entry into force of new sanctions until February 16.

As the European correspondent of the BBC Damian Grammatikas, all 28 EU countries unanimously approved the expansion of sanctions, adding 19 new names to the existing sanction list.

“The fundamental importance of these sanctions remains the same, but their introduction will depend on the situation on the ground [in the conflict zone in Donbass]. We will wait until Monday, discuss the situation, see if the Minsk meeting went well, what it yielded, and draw conclusions,” French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said following the meeting in Brussels.

On Sunday after telephone conversations of Petro Poroshenko, Vladimir Putin, Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande, it was announced that the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France could meet in Minsk on Wednesday 11 February to discuss the Ukrainian crisis.

EU Council of Ministers spokeswoman Suzanne Kiefer tweeted that the entry into force of the new sanctions had been delayed until February 16 “to allow space for ongoing diplomatic efforts.”

Meanwhile, US Treasury Secretary Jack Liu said in an interview with the CNBC television channel that the United States could go for easing sanctions against Russia, in order to help the European economy.

The West accuses Russia of supporting separatists in the east of Ukraine and of direct participation in the conflict in the Donbas, Moscow denies these accusations, writes BBC News.