US official urges Europe to consider more Russia sanctions

The United States wants its European allies to consider further sanctions against Russia over the situation in Ukraine, the U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations said on Wednesday.

"We certainly encourage our European allies to look harder at what additional sanctions could be implemented," Kurt Volker said in Berlin. "I've seen at this point that is not something Germany and France have said they're considering but these things, I think, can develop over time."

Several senior European politicians on Tuesday raised the possibility of new sanctions against Russia to punish it for capturing three Ukrainian vessels at sea, an incident the West fears could ignite a wider conflict.