Obama announces new sanctions

Slavyansk: President Barack Obama said on 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, Mr Obama said the sanctions would include export restrictions on high-tech goods in a bid to ratchet up pressure on Russian President Vlad-imir Putin, blamed for the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War.

Seven Russian officials and 17 Russian firms have been listed in the sanctions, a White House statement said later on Monday.

Meanwhile, separatists 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 wo-rld war”.