The European Union is, in the coming weeks, looking to roll over its broad economic and targeted sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine crisis until late January, The Wall Street Journal said according to a number of EU senior officials and diplomats.

The continuation of the sanctions is a part of an effort to maximize the bloc's leverage in pushing the Kremlin to fully implement its side of the Minsk ceasefire agreement, the officials say.

"While the plans aren't finalized – some haven't even been formally discussed yet at EU level—the officials say there is growing confidence in Brussels that the bloc is united behind a policy which would ensure no weakening of EU pressure on Russia," reads the newspaper.