US, EU ready to toughen Russian sanctions if required – media

The United States and European governments have prepared a new round of sanctions targeting Russia's energy and financial sectors as part of the sanctions-in-waiting strategy that officials hope will help the West respond immediately if Russian backed militants push deeper into Ukraine, the Associated Press agency has reported.

Further sanctions could begin with increasing the number of Russian government officials and businesspeople banned from traveling and doing business in the West, American and European officials have said.

"But they can climb dramatically to include new measures to crimp the country's all-important fuel exports, cut Russian banks off from international financial transactions and severely limit the capacity of Russian businesses to engage in lucrative business deals overseas," the agency quotes an anonymous foreign official as saying.

They said the Americans and the Europeans are working off the same menu of contingency measures, however there is no agreement as to what level of response would be appropriate for each type of infraction.

"The European Union will extend its current penalties on Russia next week, though officials said there is no consensus among its 28 members on new measures," the agency reported.