European Union envoys yesterday agreed to prolong for another six months the bloc's blacklist of people and entities involved in Russia's destabilisation of Ukraine, diplomats and officials said.

The blacklist will run to 154 people and 44 entities subject to an EU travel ban and asset freeze, once the leader of the Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine, Alexander Zakharchenko, who was killed in a cafeteria blast last week, is removed, diplomats said.

The list covers mostly Russian nationals and companies, as well as pro-Moscow Ukrainian entries.