The European Union on Wednesday formally rolled over damaging economic sanctions against Russia for another six months, saying Moscow had failed to live up to its Ukraine ceasefire commitments. <br/><br/>EU leaders endorsed the move last week, charging that Russia had not halted its support for pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine nor put pressure on them to respect a ceasefire brokered by France and Germany which was meant to help end a deadly conflict dating back to early 2014.<br/>'<br/>The European Council, which groups the EU's 28 member states, said the decision followed a summit briefing on the situation by French and German leaders Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel.<br/>'<br/>The sanctions, which target Russia's finance, oil and defence sectors, will run to end-January 2018. The EU imposed them after the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in July 2014 with heavy loss of life, blamed by the EU on the rebels.<br/>'<br/>Earlier this month, the EU also formally extended for another year sanctions imposed over Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, which the bloc deems illegal.<br/>'<br/>In addition to the economic and Crimea measures, the EU has also imposed asset freezes and travel bans on Ukraine and Russian figures held responsible for supporting the rebels.<br/>'<br/>Moscow says all the EU sanctions, along with extensive US measures, are both ineffective and counterproductive.