(Reuters) – European Union governments agreed on Thursday to begin their new sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine crisis on Friday but could lift them next month if Moscow abides by a fragile truce, while the United States prepared its own fresh sanctions.
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 destabilise Ukraine by backing pro-Russian separatists with troops and arms.
President Barack Obama said he will provide details on the new U.S. sanctions on Friday. 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.
