BRUSSELS, Dec. 11 - European Union leaders will extend on Thursday sanctions against Russia over its annexation of Crimea and Moscow’s involvement in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, a senior EU official said on Wednesday.

“Very probably the European Council will confirm its united support for Ukraine sovereignty and territorial integrity, and, as you know, the duration of the economic sanctions is linked to Russia’s full implementation of the Minsk agreement and we expect the sanctions to be extended,” the official said, Reuters reported.

The comment comes two days after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed to “commit to a full and comprehensive implementation” of a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine by the end of 2019.

Following more than eight hours of talks between the leaders of France, Germany, Ukraine, and Russia in Paris designed to revive a road map for achieving peace in the Donbas war between Ukrainian and Kremlin-backed forces, the sides agreed to aim for an “an all for all” prisoner exchange by the end of the year.

U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier this year he was considering sanctions over Russia’s Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline project — which the U.S. has told European companies to avoid — and warned Germany against being dependent on Russia for the fuel.

Ukraine, Eastern European, Nordic and Baltic Sea countries see the pipeline as increasing Moscow’s economic grip on Europe. But many politicians and energy companies in Germany support Nord Stream 2 because the country, Europe’s biggest economy, needs steady gas supplies as it seeks to wean itself off of coal and nuclear power.

Before the talks in Paris, Ukrainian and Moscow-backed military forces had earlier withdrawn from three flash points along the front line in eastern Ukraine where a war is in its sixth year and which has killed more than 13,000 people.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel emphasized the need to expand the mandate for monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

The communique reinforced the OSCE’s right to have “access throughout Ukraine” while Merkel promoted the idea of having the group’s monitors observe “24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

The last time the leaders of France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine met to discuss the conflict was in October 2016. (rt/tl/ez)