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FAST REWIND
* The sanctions were imposed after the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in July 2014, blamed on pro-Moscow rebels
* The measures target the oil, financial and defence sectors of the Russian economy
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The European Union on Friday formally extended damaging economic sanctions against Russia by six months due to a lack of progress in resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
The measures target the oil, financial and defence sectors of the Russian economy and were first imposed after the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in July 2014, blamed on pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine.
"On 1 July 2016, the (European) Council prolonged the economic sanctions targeting specific sectors of the Russian economy until 31 January 2017," the EU said in a statement.
EU ambassadors agreed on the extension in principle on June 21.
The EU said in a tweet in Russian that it was rolling over the sanctions because the provisions of the February 2015 Minsk peace deal aimed at ending the Ukraine conflict were "not fully implemented."
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite warned that they would go on until the conflict was resolved.
"What goes around, comes around. Sanctions continue until Minsk agreements are fully implemented," she tweeted.
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Czech prez for vote on exiting EU, NATO
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I disagree with those who are in favour of leaving the EU. But I'll do my best to have a referendum so they can express themselves
- Milos Zeman
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PRAGUE / AFP
Czech President Milos Zeman has called for a referendum on exiting the European Union and NATO, only a week after Britain voted to leave the EU, public radio said Friday.
The move prompted leftist Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka to rule out any such moves in the country of 10.5 million where a recent poll showed solid support for EU membership.
Zeman, also a leftist, insisted he himself would vote against leaving when he spoke with voters in a small Czech town on Thursday, Czech Radio said on its website.
"I disagree with those who are in favour of leaving the EU," the outspoken 71-year-old said.
"But I'll do my best to have a referendum so they can express themselves. The same goes for a NATO exit."
A statement issued by Sobotka's office on Friday said the Czech Republic sought "to be a member of EU and NATO, our membership of these organisations guarantees stability and security."
"The government is not planning any steps that would cast doubt on our membership... and it is not planning any referenda," he added.
Forty-nine percent of Czechs support staying in the EU, while 34 percent favour leaving, according to a June poll by the Median agency.
The Czech Republic, which joined the NATO Western defence alliance in 1999 and the EU in 2004, does not have a referendum law.
