EU agrees to expand Russia sanctions over Ukraine

The unnamed officials said that the ambassadors of the 28-nation bloc decided on Monday to add more people to the EU’s sanctions list over the developments in Ukraine.
 
The names of the people who will be targeted with asset freezes and travel bans will be decided at another meeting of EU ambassadors on Wednesday, the officials added.
 
In a related development, US President Barack Obama and his French counterpart Francois Hollande have told Russia’s Vladimir Putin that additional sanctions could be imposed if Moscow does not take immediate steps to de-escalate tension in eastern Ukraine.
 
Hollande and Obama spoke with Putin by telephone, and urged the Russian leader to use Kremlin’s influence on the pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine to convince them to lay down their arms and negotiate with Kiev.
 
Washington and Brussels accuse Moscow of fueling the crisis in Ukraine; Russia rejects the claim.
 
The EU has already imposed a number of sanctions against Russian, Crimean and other pro-Russia figures. The restrictions were imposed after a decision by Ukraine’s then autonomous region of Crimea to re-join the Russian Federation in March. More than 60 individuals as well as companies are listed on the bans list.
 
Ukraine’s mainly Russian-speaking eastern regions have been the scene of deadly clashes between pro-Russia forces and the Ukrainian army since the government in Kiev launched military operations in mid-April in a bid to crush the protests there.
 
Hundreds of people have been killed in the ongoing military campaign in Ukraine, which has also forced tens of thousands to escape to Russia.