BRUSSELS: The European Union is to ban all investment in Crimea, annexed by Russia in March, to keep up the pressure on Moscow and show that the issue is not being forgotten, EU diplomatic sources said Tuesday.

The export of EU-made goods for the transport, telecom, energy and oil and gas exploration sectors in Crimea will also be halted, the sources said.

In addition, tourism services will be banned and cruise ships will be barred from calling at Crimean ports, they said.

The EU’s 28 member states are expected to formally endorse the measures on Thursday when EU leaders meet in Brussels for a regular summit meeting.

The latest sanctions reflect “the continued policy of not recognising the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia,” one of the diplomatic sources said.

“We have not forgotten the Crimea problem even if the focus has been on the fighting in the east of Ukraine,” the source said.

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2014