In July and September 2014 the EU imposed economic sanctions on trade with Russia in specific economic sectors.

In March 2015 EU leaders decided to link the current sanctions regime to the full implementation of the Minsk agreements, which was scheduled for the end of December 2015. As this did not occur, the Council extended the economic sanctions until 31 July 2016.

The economic sanctions were subsequently extended for 6 months on 1 July 2016, 19 December 2016 and 28 June 2017, each time following an assessment of the status of the implementation of the Minsk agreements. As of a few days ago, the economic sanctions are currently extended until 31 January 2018.

Russian President Putin responded with his own countermeasures: the ban on food imports from Europe has been extended until the end of 2018.