BERLIN Wed Jan 28, 2015 4:44am EST
U.S. President Barack Obama reacts to the cold as he steps out the door of Air Force One after 3:00 a.m. , as he arrives back at Joint Base Andrews outside of Washington January 28, 2015.
Credit: Reuters/Jim Bourg
BERLIN (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed their concern about Russia's role in rising violence in eastern Ukraine in a phone call late on Tuesday and agreed on the need for funds to stabilise the Ukrainian economy.
The White House said both leaders were worried about "Russia's materiel support for the separatists" and its failure to uphold a ceasefire agreement signed last September in Minsk.
It added in a statement that they "agreed on the need to hold Russia accountable for its actions".
Washington is ready to ramp up sanctions on Russia over Ukraine if necessary, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said at the signature of a $2 billion loan guarantee agreement for Kiev on Wednesday. Obama and Merkel spoke of the need for a "robust package of financial support" to help stabilise Ukraine.
European Union foreign ministers are likely to ask the bloc's executive Commission to prepare new sanctions against Russia at a meeting on Thursday, though a final decision will be taken by EU leaders at a summit on Feb. 12.
(Reporting by Stephen Brown and Roberta Rampton; Editing by Michelle Martin)
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Obama, Merkel want Russia held accountable for violence in ...
Ukraine peace talks due as EU hits Russia with more sanctions
Minsk (AFP) - A new round of peace talks between Ukraine and pro-Russia rebels was cancelled on Friday after government officials failed to show up, a rebel spokesman said.
"The foreign ministry of Belarus confirmed today that Kiev (representatives) won't come, the talks have been cancelled," separatist envoy Denis Pushilin told reporters in the Belarussian capital Minsk.
"We are leaving Minsk today."
A spokesman for the Belarussian foreign ministry, Dmitry Mironchik, told AFP the ministry had made no statement on the cancellation of the talks, however.
Kiev had insisted on speaking directly with the self-declared leaders of Ukraine's two rebel regions, in the presence of a Russian envoy and a representative from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
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Ukraine peace talks due as EU hits Russia with more sanctions
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