(BRUSSELS, Belgium)
The EU has adopted new economic sanctions against Russia over the conflict in Ukraine, targeting the oil sector, defence equipment and sensitive technologies, EU sources say.
Russian state banks’ access to capital is also likely to be restricted.
The aim is to increase the cost to Russia of its continued support for pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine.
Moscow denies charges by the EU and US that it is supplying heavy weapons to the rebels.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said Washington was also preparing further sanctions against Russia.
Details of the EU move – agreed by the 28 member states’ ambassadors – are still coming in.
The full sanctions statement is expected on Wednesday, when the EU is also set to name more Russian officials facing asset freezes and travel bans in Europe.
Calls for the EU to act have been fuelled by the downing of flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine. All 298 people on the Malaysia Airlines jet were killed, many of them Dutch citizens.
An international team has again failed to access the crash site, amid heavy fighting between government forces and rebels there.
Western governments believe the pro-Russian separatists shot the plane down on 17 July with a Russian missile. The rebels and Moscow deny that, instead blaming the Ukrainian military.
Speaking in Washington, Mr Kerry urged Russia and the rebels to give Western investigators full access to the crash site.
“They still can’t even ensure that all of the victims’ remains have been removed, and that is an unsupportable burden for any family to have to bear, and it is an unacceptable standard for behaviour, period,” he said.
“The site has to be cordoned off, the evidence has to be preserved, and Russia needs to use its considerable influence among the separatists in order to be able to help ensure this basic approach of common decency.”
Ukrainian troops are continuing an offensive aimed at encircling the rebels in Donetsk region. In the latest developments:

• Several shells are said to have struck buildings in the separatist stronghold of Donetsk city
• Ukraine says its troops have entered the towns of Shakhtarsk and Torez in Donetsk region, and Lutuhyne in Luhansk region
• Ten Ukrainian soldiers and at least 22 civilians have reportedly been killed in the last 24 hours
• The dead civilians are said to include three children and five people at a home for the elderly
• A group of hackers sympathetic to the rebels says it has disabled the website of the Ukrainian president.

On Monday Russian President Vladimir Putin urged his country’s defence industry chiefs to rely less on foreign military components and source more equipment in Russia.
Last weekend, the EU subjected a further 15 Russian individuals and 18 entities to asset freezes and visa bans for their alleged involvement in the Ukraine conflict.
The list of 87 targets of EU sanctions now includes the heads of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and foreign intelligence, the president of Chechnya, as well as two Crimean energy firms.
However, UK company British Petroleum, which owns nearly 20% of Russian state oil giant Rosneft, has warned that further sanctions against Russia could “adversely impact” its performance.
(BBC)

EU widens Russia sanctions to target economy