LUXEMBOURG -- European Union foreign ministers have prolonged the bloc's investment ban against Crimea for another year.
The sanctions were adopted in 2014 in response to Russia's illegal annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula, and have since been extended on a yearly basis.
The measures, which were prolonged on June 19, include an EU-wide ban on imports from Crimea unless they have Ukrainian certificates, a prohibition of the purchase by EU companies of property and companies on the Black Sea peninsula, and a ban on cruise ships flying the flag of an EU member state or controlled by a member state to call at ports there.
Goods and technology for the transport, telecommunications, and energy sectors also cannot be exported to Crimean companies or for use in Crimea under the ban.
The EU's economic sanctions that hit Russian banking and energy sector are likely to be discussed briefly when EU leaders meet in Brussels on June 22.
EU diplomats told RFE/RL that they believed those measures will be rolled-over for another six months at the end of the month.
On June 19 in Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated that Russia considers EU’s sanctions illegitimate.
"Moreover, we believe that they harm not only us but the countries that initiated them," he said.