BRUSSELS: EU leaders agreed Thursday to effectively extend economic sanctions against Russia until the end of 2015, tying them to full implementation of the Minsk ceasefire accords in Ukraine.
The sanctions were imposed after the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over rebel-held eastern Ukraine in July 2014, and were due to expire after a year.
"The duration of economic sanctions will be clearly linked to complete implementation of Minsk, bearing in mind that this is only foreseen by the end of 2015," EU president Donald Tusk said after a summit in Brussels.
A formal decision to roll over the sanctions must still be made by all 28 leaders, most likely at the next EU summit in June.
"The necessary decisions will be taken in coming months," added the leaders' formal statement on Ukraine, without giving further details.
The EU leaders also agreed to ask diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini to start work on a strategy to counter Russian "disinformation", including the setting up of a special media team.
A shaky ceasefire in eastern Ukraine remains in place based on the February Minsk accord brokered by French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel with Ukraine and Russia.
Merkel has previously stressed the need for the implementation of key parts of the Minsk deal -- including restoring Ukrainian control of its Russian border in parts of rebel-held Ukraine.
The mention of the end of 2015 in former Polish premier Tusk's comments, and in the strongly-worded leaders' statement, came after pressure from hawks in the EU who wanted a firm statement of intent on sanctions, source said
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