EU agrees on fresh Russia sanctions over Ukraine

In a Friday letter to European leaders, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the new measures were an "effective tool" to "reinforce the principle that EU sanctions are directed at promoting a change of course in Russia's actions in Ukraine."

Tightening the existing measures imposed in July, the sanctions hit more individuals with travel bans and asset freezes, and make it more difficult for Russian oil and defense companies to access capital markets.

The sanctions, which will be put into force on Monday, were imposed despite the signing of a ceasefire agreement between the Ukrainian government and pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine earlier on Friday.

The agreement was signed after two hours of negotiations in the Belarusian capital Minsk between the former Ukrainian president, Leonid Kuchma, who represented the Kiev government, and pro-Russian leaders, Igor Plotnitsky and Alexander Zakharchenko.

The negotiations came amid heavy fighting between the Ukrainian army and pro-Russian forces in the southeastern city of Mariupol, which claimed the lives of seven civilians and injured 23 others over the past days.

Ukraine’s mainly Russian-speaking regions in the east have witnessed deadly clashes between pro-Moscow forces and the Ukrainian army since Kiev launched military operations to silence pro-Russians in mid-April.

Violence intensified in May after the two flashpoint regions of Donetsk and Luhansk held local referendums, in which their residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence from Ukraine.

Western powers and the Kiev government accuse Moscow of having a hand in the crisis in eastern Ukraine, an accusation the Kremlin denies.

HK