EU extends sanctions on Russia for 6 months

EU member states have agreed to extend economic sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine crisis to the end of January 2016, officials say, as NATO announced its largest defence reinforcement since the Cold War.
EU member states have agreed to extend damaging economic sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine crisis by another six months to the end of January 2016, officials say, as NATO announced its largest defence reinforcement since the Cold War.
The agreement by ambassadors from the 28 European Union nations meeting in Brussels will be formalised by foreign ministers from the bloc when they meet next week, the officials said.
“EU foreign ministers will finalise the decision in Luxembourg on Monday,” Poland’s permanent representative to the EU said on Twitter, while several sources also confirmed the agreement.
The following day, the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia are slated to hold talks in Paris, it was announced Wednesday.
It comes as NATO head Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance was implementing its largest defence reinforcement since the Cold War as the region grapples with terrorism and an increasingly assertive Russia.