(VOVworld)- The Obama administration Wednesday announced to widen new sanctions on Russia for continued attempts to intervene in Ukraine’s situation. President Barack Obama told reporters that the sanctions are targeted Russia’s key institutions but designed to have the maximum impact on Russia while limiting any spillover influence on American companies or those of its European allies.
Obama said that the US will impose further sanctions if Russia did not take concrete steps to ease the conflict in Ukraine. According to the US Department of Treasury, the targeted companies include banks, energy and defense companies. Several Russian government officials were also sanctioned.
The same day, EU leaders agreed to tighten sanctions against Russia at a special meeting of the European Council in Brussels. Accordingly, EU leaders asked the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to suspend new financial operations in Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that U.S. sanctions will take relations with Russia to a "dead end" and damage US business interests in his country. But Putin expressed his hope to resolve the issue through diplomatic measures.