Shoppers at a supermarket in Russia. (Photo: AFP/VNA)

These sanctions, first introduced in 2014 following Russia's annexation of Crimea, have repeatedly been extended over the past eight years.

The sanctions include restrictions on trade, finance, technology, dual-use items, industry, transport, and luxury goods, and a ban on the import or shipping of crude oil and certain petrochemical products from Russia to the EU.

So far, the EU has approved 11 packages of sanctions against Russia. The Russian Foreign Ministry has said the EU's actions are illegal and undermine international legal norms, and has vowed to respond.