Obama announces sanctions on Russia as Ukraine tensions mount

President Barack Obama said Monday the United States was poised to unveil fresh sanctions against Russia over the crisis in Ukraine, as pro-Kremlin gunmen seized another town in the east. Speaking in the Philippines, Obama said the sanctions would include export restrictions on high-tech goods in a bid to ratchet up pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin, blamed for the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War. Separately, top EU officials were to meet in Brussels to step up European sanctions on Russia as part of a coordinated global effort against Moscow. On the ground in eastern Ukraine, tensions remained at fever pitch as gunmen stormed the town hall and police offices in Kostyantynivka, the latest in a string of assaults by insurgents on towns in the region. Rebels also refused to release a group of international monitors from the OSCE after presenting them to the media as “prisoners of war” in what Germany said was a “repugnant” display. Meanwhile, the threat of a full-scale invasion loomed large over the ex-Soviet country, with tens of thousands of Russian troops massed on the border and Ukraine’s prime minister warning of efforts to start a “third world war”.