By Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. sanctions team is in Europe this week discussing possible deeper sectoral penalties against Russia if a ceasefire deal with Ukraine is further violated, a senior State Department official said on Wednesday. Victoria Nuland, U.S. assistant secretary of state for European affairs, told a congressional hearing there were new concerns about heavy shelling and fighting around Donetsk and on the road to Mariupol by pro-Russian separatists. "Our sanctions team is in Europe this week," Nuland said, adding that there had been more than 100 violations of the European-brokered ceasefire agreements. She said it was important that the United States was in line with Europe on additional sanctions that will be imposed on Russia if the ceasefire worked out in Minsk last month is "further violated or if there is a further land grab." Earlier, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Russia that any serious violation of the ceasefire, which she described as fragile, would prompt more sanctions.
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March 4th, 2015
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