US President Barack Obama has said his country will join the European Union in imposing tougher sanctions on Russia's financial, energy and defense sectors after Moscow sent troops into eastern Ukraine last month, and will provide details on the new steps tomorrow.
"These measures will increase Russia's political isolation as well as the economic costs to Russia, especially in areas of importance to President [Vladimir] Putin and those close to him," Mr Obama said in a statement.
European leaders spoke earlier today and agreed to push ahead with a package of sanctions against Russia by the end of the week, the spokesman for British Prime Minister David Cameron said.
"This morning the prime minister took part in a joint call with several fellow European leaders; president Van Rompuy, Chancellor Merkel, president Hollande and prime minister Renzi," the spokesman said.
They spoke "to discuss the subject of sanctions against Russia in the context of Ukraine and agreement to proceed with the implementation of the sanction package that was agreed earlier in the week."
Sanctions come into force when published in the official journal of the European Commission. "They were in agreement it should be published by the end of the week," the spokesman said.
In response to the news, Russia's foreign ministry accused the EU of undermining peace efforts in Ukraine.
"By taking this measure, the EU has practically decided against the process of a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis," the ministry said in a statement, which also urged Europeans to give Ukraine "a chance for peace".
Russia still has about 1,000 troops in eastern Ukraine, backed up by another 20,000 on the border, NATO said today, despite the Ukrainian government reporting that Russia had withdrawn the bulk of its forces.
The withdrawal would be "a good first step" if confirmed, a NATO military officer said in a statement to AFP, but "the fact of the matter is there are still approximately 1,000 Russian troops in eastern Ukraine... and approximately 20,000 troops on the Russian border."
Meanwhile, an Estonian policeman detained by Russian security services has been charged with espionage and faces up to two decades in prison in a case that has infuriated the government in Tallin.
"Eston Kohver was charged on 8 September with espionage," his lawyer Nikolai Polozov told AFP.
He said that Mr Kohver is being held in Moscow's Lefortovo prison, which is used by the security services. "He faces up to 20 years in prison," Mr Polozov said.
In a rare public statement, Russia's FSB security service announced last week it had detained Mr Kohver as he attempted to carry out intelligence gathering in northwestern Russia close to the Estonian border.
Estonian authorities gave a different account, accusing Russia of abducting its national at gunpoint from Estonian territory as he was investigating cross-border crime.
Mr Polozov told AFP that the defence team would be pleading that the charges against Mr Kohver were unlawful because he was abducted.
The FSB claimed Mr Kohver was carrying covert recording equipment and what appeared to be assignments for an intelligence mission, as well as €5,000. Russia state television aired FSB footage of the evidence.
Mr Kohver was also shown on national television being led into a Moscow district court by security operatives in black masks.
Mr Kohver's arrest came just two days after US President Barack Obama visited Tallinn to calm the nerves of the US's Baltic allies, as tension with Russia rise because of its role in the Ukraine crisis.
