The political decision to extend the anti-Russian economic sanctions to 31 January 2017 has been already made, and the situation with the British referendum on leaving the EU cannot influence the decision. The EU Committee made the decision to extend economic sanctions against Russia for six months on June 21. This decision will come into force after the formal approval of the EU Council.
As it was reported earlier, the UK leaves the EU after a referendum held in Britain on Thursday. 51.9% voted for secession from the European Union.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that the UK vote to leave the EU is unlikely to impact Europe’s decision to prolong sanctions on Russia. The sanctions are to be renewed before 31 July pending parliamentary approval in France, Sweden and the UK. “This [sanctions] process is discussed irrespective of Britain”, he told. He said Russia “is interested in the EU being economically strong, prosperous, stable and predictable. I would like to repeat what has already been said by President Putin: Brexit is a domestic issue of the United Kingdom and the issue of its relations with the E.U. The European Union is Russia’s very important trade and investment partner”.
At the same time, The Wall Street Journal notes that the British decision to leave the EU can destroy the unity of European countries on the issue of sanctions against Russia, as the UK supported Germany.
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