European Union leaders extended tough economic sanctions leveled at Russia over the country's role in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

The decision, announced Thursday at an EU summit, will extend current restrictions against Moscow until July 2018. "EU united on roll-over of economic sanctions on Russia," European Council President Donald Tusk posted on Twitter.

The sanctions, which target the financial, energy and defense industries and limit Russian access to EU markets, were first imposed in the summer of 2014 after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. They have been extended every six months since then.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko welcomed the extension.

