MOSCOW, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to extend countermeasures adopted in response to Western sanctions for another year to the end of 2018, the Russian government said Friday.
The decree, officially published on the portal of the state system of legal information of the Russian Federation, takes immediate effect.
The United States and its allies imposed a set of sanctions against Russian institutions and individuals in the financial, energy and defense sectors in 2014 over Moscow's alleged involvement in the Ukraine crisis.
Since then the sanctions were extended several times. The European Union extended its sanctions on Wednesday to Jan. 31, 2018.
In response, Russia imposed an embargo on various commodities, mainly foodstuffs imports, from Western countries in August 2014. Following two extensions, the ban was due to expire at the end of 2017.
