The European Union has taken steps towards issuing the first sanctions against Russia since the Cold War, Reuters reported.
The sanctions, including travel bans and frozen assets, are a severe response from the EU over the Russian fueled crisis in the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea. The sanctions will begin on Monday if a diplomatic solution is not reached, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.
The travel ban and asset freeze would apply to a list of people and companies the EU feels are violating the sovereignty of Ukraine, Reuters reported. The names of those on the list have yet to be decided.
The U.S. has already issued similar sanctions against Russia. Merkel said she was hesitant to move forward with EU sanctions, but feels they are necessary because Moscow has yet to form a "contact group" for negotiation purposes.
"Almost a week ago, we said that if that wasn't successful within a few days, we'd have to consider a second stage of sanctions," Merkel said, Reuters reported. "Six days have gone by since then and we have to recognize, even though we will continue our efforts to form a contact group, that we haven't made any progress."
Ukraine is preparing for a referendum on Sunday on whether or not Crimea, which has a significant ethnic Russian population, should secede and join Russia. The interim Ukrainian government and the West have denounced the referendum as illegal, while the Russian government has heavily implied that Crimea belongs to Russia.
Russian troops are currently stationed all over Crimea, which Russian President Vladimir Putin said was necessary to protect ethnic Russians from being attacked by fascist groups. Putin sent the troops after former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted following months of pro-democracy protests.
The EU sanctions would be more severe than the U.S's since most of Russia's oil and gas exports are bought by European countries. Elite Russians would also be cut off from traveling to their homes in other EU countries, as well as from accessing their money in EU banks, Reuters reported.
