A Czech court has ordered the closure of the office of the Donetsk "people's republic" separatists in Ostrava.
EU officially extends Russia sanctions by six months:
By RFE/RL
BRUSSELS -- The European Union member states' ambassadors have officially extended the bloc's economic sanctions against Russia by six months.
The 28 EU heads of state and government agreed to extend the measures until January 31 during their two-day meeting in Brussels last week.
At the summit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron gave a briefing on how Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine were adhering to the 2015 Minsk agreements aimed at putting an end to a conflict that has killed more than 10,000 people since April 2014.
EU diplomats told RFE/RL that there was broad agreement among member states to stay firm with Moscow on Ukraine, while at the same time being open to dialogue on other foreign-policy issues.
The EU sanctions, which mainly target Russia's banking and financial sectors, were first imposed by Brussels in the summer of 2014 as a response to Russia's illegal annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region and its baking of separatists in the country's east.
The sanctions package has been renewed every six months since then.