Nuland announces the possibility of deepening sectorial sanctions against Russia / Photo from UNIAN
The United States and the European Union are considering the possibility of deepening sectorial sanctions against Russia over Ukraine.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland announced this during her testimony on Ukraine before the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee on March 4, Radio Svoboda reported.
The new sanctions will be introduced if the ceasefire worked out in Minsk on February 12 is "further violated or if there is a further land grab" by pro-Russia separatists.
Nuland says that Washington is watching the risk of separatists' advance on Ukrainian villages on the way from the Russian border to the Ukrainian-controlled city of Mariupol.
According to her, a U.S. sanctions team is in Europe this week, and Washington is discussing with the EU the possibility of new sanctions against certain sectors of the Russian economy if the new truce has been broken.
It is important that the existing sanctions continue to be effective and the possibility of their deepening be considered, she said.