EU to draw up legal text on Russia sanctions

European Union ambassadors asked the European Commission on Friday to draw up a legal text to impose sectoral sanctions on Russia, but there is no final agreement yet to impose them, EU diplomats said.

Officials will hold more discussions next week on the basis of the legal proposals, they said.

The Commission, the EU's executive body, has put forward proposals to restrict Russian access to European financial markets, defence and energy techology.

The EU had warned of tougher sanctions on Russia if it failed to stabilise the Ukraine crisis.

The US had also imposed strict sanctions on Russia, after it felt that felt that concrete measures has not been taken to curb the violence in Ukraine.