U.S. and EU "agree on next round of sanctions"

U.S. and EU "agree on next round of sanctions"

WASHINGTON -- The United States has announced that they agreed with their European allies to impose new sanctions against Russia.

This would happen in case "Moscow continues to destabilize eastern Ukraine."

"We are well aligned now on what a next round of economic sanctions would look like, in addition to continuing to look for individuals who one would sanction," said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Europe Victoria Nuland.

The U.S. and the European Union are now "working on a series of sanctions in the energy, banking and defense sectors," she said.

She accused Russia of "making extra efforts to, in a very dangerous way, help and encourage separatists,"and said this included "sending tanks and rocket launchers."

Russia has denied these accusations.

Nuland also "alluded" to the recent shooting down of an Ukrainian military aircraft that killed 49 soldiers, by saying that "a serious deterioration" of the situation on the ground took place over the past week.

She praised the recent contacts between the new Ukrainian president, Petro Poroshenko, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, but according to AFP, said that "the U.S. and Europe are evaluating the situation in Ukraine on a daily basis while sending a signal to Putin that if he doesn't change course, there will be costs."

Nuland also "reiterated that Washington disapproves of the sale of French Mistral warships to Moscow."