EU to extend sanctions against Russian, Ukrainian individuals to September

The European Union will extend for a further six months until September sanctions against Russian and Ukrainian individuals over the conflict in Ukraine, EU sources said today.

The blacklist of nearly 150 people is in addition to sweeping economic sanctions against Russia's defence, financial and energy sectors that have infuriated President Vladimir Putin.

"Sanctions -- travel restrictions and asset freezes -- against 146 persons and 37 entities are renewed until September," a European source said after a meeting of diplomats from EU nations.

EU interior ministers meeting in Brussels tomorrow are expected to formally approve the decision and the full list of individuals targeted will be published on Saturday, the sources said.

The European Union has persisted with the sanctions despite pressure from Russia and divisions within the bloc, saying that the terms of the Minsk ceasefire agreement to end the two-year-old Ukraine conflict have not been met.

The last list approved in September includes Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, targeted for backing Russia's annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in March 2014.

It also included Arkady Bakhin and Anatoli Antonov, the defence and deputy defence ministers.

Tycoon Arkady Rotenberg was meanwhile described as a "long-term acquaintance of President Putin and his former judo sparring partner" who has benefited from his close ties with the Kremlin strongman.

Alongside senior figures in the Russian parliament, popular singer lawmaker Joseph Kobzon was penalised for supporting the separatists and accepting the post of "honorary consul" for the rebels' self-declare Donetsk People's Republic

The EU has steadily built up the list of individuals sanctioned for their alleged role in the conflict, in which pro-Moscow rebels are fighting for independence from the former Soviet republic of Ukraine.

The EU renewed the economic sanctions in December on the grounds saying that more work was needed before the terms of the February 2015 Minsk agreement were met.

The West accuses the Kremlin of fuelling the conflict in eastern Ukraine which has claimed more than 9,000 lives since April 2014, in a bid to prevent the EU gaining influence there.

Russia denies being involved.

But the Ukraine conflict continues to strain ties between Brussels and Moscow.

The EU last week urged Russia to free Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko, who is on trial in Russia over the killing of two journalists.