Mubasher: The European Union (EU) would extend its current economic sanctions against Russia next month, a top official in the bloc said on Friday.

European Council President Donald Tusk would head a summit of EU leaders on 13 and 14 December in which the bloc is due to roll over for another year its measures against Russian defence, energy and banking sectors, as a punishment for Moscow’s involvement in the unrest in Ukraine.

“Europe is united in its support to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, [which] is why I am sure that the EU will roll over the sanctions against Russia in December,” President Tusk told a news conference in Buenos Aires, where the leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies were meeting.

 Tusk said Russia’s use of force against Ukraine’s navy vessels was “totally unacceptable.”

Last weekend, Russian ships fired Ukrainian vessels on the Sea of Azov, capturing the boats and their sailors.

The EU first imposed sanctions on Moscow after the annexation of the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea from Ukraine.

Since then, the bloc stepped up sanctions as Russia continued to support rebels fighting government forces in east Ukraine.