BRUSSELS, Sept 12 (Reuters): The European Union has imposed fresh sanctions on Russia, targeting some of its largest companies, in a response to Moscow's actions in Ukraine.
The military conflict between the Ukrainian government and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine has been raging since mid-April, claiming more than 3,000 lives, according to the UN. Ukraine and the West have accused Russia of providing the rebels with weapons and recruits.
In the new round of sanctions unveiled in its official publication on Friday the EU closed long-term lending for a number of Russian companies including the country's largest oil producer, Rosneft, and pipeline operator Transneft.
The EU also imposed sanctions on 24 individuals including rebel leaders and senior Russian lawmakers.
The steps are the latest by the United States and the EU following Russia's annexation of Crimea in March and what the West sees as an effort since then to further destabilize Ukraine by backing pro-Russian separatists with troops and arms.
President Barack Obama said he will provide details on the new US sanctions on Friday. The United States plans to sanction Sberbank, Russia's largest bank, and to further limit other Russian banks' access to US capital, sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
The 28 governments of EU member states last week agreed on the new sanctions against Russia but spent several days wrangling over their announcement and implementation.
Russia's foreign ministry said the approval of the new EU penalties showed the European Union had "made its choice against" the current peace road map aimed at ending the worst confrontation between Moscow and the West since the Cold War.
After EU ambassadors gave the go-ahead to the new sanctions to go into effect on Friday, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said EU officials would conduct a review before the end of September of how the truce reached last week between Ukraine government forces and rebels was working. If Russia was complying, some or all sanctions could be lifted, he said.
"If the situation on the ground so warrants," he said, officials may submit to EU leaders "proposals to amend, suspend or repeal the set of sanctions in force, in all or in part".
