EU leaders have agreed to extend economic sanctions against Russia for six more months.

Earlier, France and Germany complained that the Minsk peace deal for Ukraine was still not being fulfilled.

Russia’s military interventions, first in Ukraine, then in Syria, were high on the EU summit agenda in Brussels.

But Italy and Slovakia want sanctions, that have cost EU exporters billions of euros, eased. The summit focused on the crises in Europe’s neighbourhood.

The destruction of Aleppo and the exodus of Syrian refugees, migrant pressure from Africa and Ukraine’s conflict with Russia were key themes.

The far-reaching EU-Ukraine Association Agreement was stalled in April when Dutch voters rejected it in a referendum.