President Barack Obama says the United States is moving ahead with tougher economic sanctions on Russia due to Russia's illegal actions in Ukraine, according to Reuters.
Obama says the sanctions will affect Russia's financial, energy and defense sectors and will increase Moscow's political isolation and economic costs to the country, Reuters reported.
The United States plans to sanction Sberbank, Russia's largest bank, and to further limit other Russian banks' access to U.S. capital, sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday, according to Reuters.
The U.S. penalties are paired with a new round of European Union sanctions announced Thursday in Brussels, according to Reuters. The U.S. and the EU will both disclose the full details Friday.
The latest sanctions from the West come despite a cease-fire reached last week between Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists, Reuters reported.
Obama says if Russia follows through with its commitments to help end the crisis, the sanctions can be rolled back. Otherwise, he says, they'll be increased, according to Reuters.
The steps are the latest by the United States and the EU following Russia's annexation of Crimea in March and what the West sees as an effort since then to further destabilize Ukraine by backing pro-Russian separatists with troops and arms, Reuters reported.
The 28 governments of EU member states last week agreed on the new sanctions against Russia, and Russia's foreign ministry said the approval of the new EU penalties showed the European Union had "made its choice against" the current peace roadmap aimed at ending the worst confrontation between Moscow and the West since the Cold War, according to Reuters.
The EU agreement on the timing of the sanctions followed a phone call on Thursday involving Van Rompuy, British Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, Cameron's spokesman said in London, Reuters reported.
Western powers have accused Russia of sending tanks and troops into eastern Ukraine to prop up a rebellion by pro-Moscow separatists, according to Reuters. The Kremlin denies that and has responded with its own sanctions and threats of more retaliation.
