(VOVworld) – Leaders of the G7 – Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, along with the EU announced that they were ready to impose more sanctions on Russia if Moscow fails to act to ease the Ukraine crisis. In a joint statement released on Wednesday by the White House, leaders of the G7 voiced their deep concern over Russian acts which they thought were damaging Ukraine’s independence, territorial integrity, and sovereignty.

The statement came a day after the US and EU unanimously announced their additional sanctions targeting the Russian self defense, energy, and financial sectors. The move aims to increase pressure on Russia to take specific measures to end the conflict in Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday comdemned western sanctions, calling them short-sighted and unconstructive and that could complicate Washington-Moscow relations as well as create an adverse environment for other international relations.