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European Union leaders willdiscuss Russia's currency crisis on Thursday amid worries itcould impact their own economies, but they will not relaxsanctions imposed against Moscow over Ukraine, diplomats said.

On the contrary, the EU plans this week to widen a ban oninvestment in Crimea to target Russian Black Sea oil and gasexploration and the tourism sector. Moscow annexed Crimea fromUkraine in March.

The EU leaders are due to discuss Ukraine and Russia at asummit dinner in Brussels after talks about the EU economy,including a plan to foster investment.

Russia's financial crisis, a result of plunging oil pricesand exacerbated by Western sanctions, will form part of abroader discussion of EU-Russia relations, officials said.

"We are all watching the economic developments in Russiawith concern," a European Commission official said in Berlin."No one has an interest in Russia falling into a deep depression."

However, leaders will agree that the EU "will stay thecourse" on sanctions and that they are ready to take furthersteps if necessary to promote a political solution in easternUkraine, according to a draft statement seen by Reuters.Pro-Russian separatists are battling Kiev's forces in the east.

EU leaders will also say they are ready to offer furtherfinancial support for Ukraine, provided it carries out reforms.

The International Monetary Fund estimates Ukraine needsanother $15 billion but the EU has only limited capacity tohelp, a top EU official said.

Russia has responded to the EU and US sanctions againstits finance, defence and energy sectors by banning most Westernfood imports. EU farmers and some other sectors have been hurt.

"The cost to EU citizens of both the Russian steps and thewider economic fallout is obviously a consideration, but itisn't one that has reached a tipping point yet which isencouraging people to revise the sanctions policy," one diplomatsaid, speaking on condition of anonymity.

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European Union will keep up pressure on Russia despite concerns over economy

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The European Union Customs Union (EUCU) is a customs union which consists of all the member states of the European Union (EU) and some of its neighbouring countries: Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and Turkey.

The customs union is a principal task of the European Economic Community, established in 1968, and now succeeded by the European Union. No customs are levied on goods travelling within the customs union andunlike a free trade areamembers of the customs union impose a common external tariff on all goods entering the union. One of the consequences of the customs union is that the European Union can negotiate as a single entity in international trade deals such as the World Trade Organisation, at the expense of individual member states' rights.

EU applicant Turkey and two bordering microstatesAndorra and San Marino are in customs union with the EU. Monaco, while not a member of the EU, is part of the EU customs territory through an agreement with France.

While all EU members are part of the customs union, not all of their respective territories form part of the customs union. This may be because a territory is not part of the EU, because the territories have opt-outs, or are excluded from the customs union because of their economic or geographic circumstances; see Special member state territories and the European Union.

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European Union Customs Union - Wikipedia, the free ...