The EU is to decide on further energy and financial sanctions against Russia over its role in the Ukraine crisis within a week, German chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday. “If nothing changes [in Ukraine] then these sanctions will be adopted,” she told reporters after a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels. The move comes after reports of increased Russian military involvement in the conflict between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government forces in eastern Ukraine. Merkel said the European Commission already has a list of further possible measures ready for EU governments to consider and decide on “within a week.” These further measures are in the areas where the EU has already adopted sanctions, “so financial sanctions are possible, but also other areas in the energy sector for example,” she said. In late July the EU targeted Russia’s oil sector with economic sanctions banning any new contracts with Russia that […]