EU Renews Push for Russia Sanctions as Clashes Sweep Ukraine

By Daryna Krasnolutska, Aaron Eglitis and Ott Ummelas Jan 26, 2015 12:58 PM ET

European Union nations edged closer to tightening sanctions against Russia as fighting between government troops and rebels consumed the front line in eastern Ukraine in the deadliest escalation since a September truce.

The EU will add more individuals this week to a list of those facing visa bans and asset freezes over Russia’s involvement in the conflict, Latvian President Andris Berzins, whose country holds the 28-nation bloc’s rotating presidency, said in an interview Monday. The recent events in Ukraine are “more than worrying,” French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said, with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier warning that more attacks would prompt an EU response.

“Much depends on what happens in the next three days,” Steinmeier told reporters in Berlin ahead of an emergency meeting of EU foreign ministers on Thursday. “But an attack or an offensive would be a qualitative change in the situation to which we would have to react.”

The EU is closer to taking action after a rocket attack killed dozens in the port city of Mariupol on Saturday and fighting intensified along the front that stretches across Ukraine’s easternmost regions of Luhansk and Donetsk toward the Sea of Azov. Deciding on new sanctions depends on a unanimous agreement among the EU’s members, which have voiced conflicting opinions on whether to take stricter steps against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government.

The U.S. has also warned Russia that it risks further economic pressure if the situation doesn’t improve.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-26/eu-renews-push-for-sanctions-on-russia-as-clashes-engulf-ukraine.html