The Swiss Federal Council has resolved to extend by a year a freeze on the assets of ousted Tunisian president Ben Ali and former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych and several individuals closely associated with them.

The decision was made during a Swiss Federal Council meeting on Wednesday December 20, Switzerland's Federal Department of Foreign Affairs said.

One year earlier, on December 9, 2016, the Federal Council extended the freeze on Ukrainian assets in the amount of 70 million Swiss francs for a year and the decision would have expired in February 2018.