© RIA Novosti / Michael Klimentyev
"The government has addressed a letter to me asking to extend the measures that we had taken in response to the actions of our partners from several countries," Putin said. "Today, in accordance with this letter, I have signed a decree on extending certain special economic measures in order to ensure the safety of the Russian Federation," he said asking the government to prepare and publish a corresponding decree as soon as possible.
The move comes in response to the EU decision on Monday to extend sanctions against Russia for six months. They were first imposed on August 1, 2014 over the events in Ukraine and the reunification with Crimea. Russia responded on August 7 when Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree to ban imports of beef, pork, poultry meat, fish, cheese, milk, vegetables and fruit from Australia, Canada, the EU, the US and Norway.
On June 19, the EU prolonged economic sanctions against Crimea and Sevastopol, saying it considered the territories to be "illegally annexed" by Russia. It will remain in force until June 23, 2016, and will include a ban on the import of goods from Crimea and any investment in the region.
Comment: These counter-sanctions are going to hurt Europe. Maybe Putin should have a look at this article about the UN Charter enemy state status.