The US and EU are readying fresh sanctions against Russian companies and high profile individuals amid the continuing crisis in Ukraine.

US President Barack Obama confirmed the intensifying of sanctions in a concerted effort to change Russia’s behaviour in Ukraine, claiming that they failed to uphold an international agreement aimed at peacefully resolving the crisis.

Meanwhile, EU ministers are meeting in Brussels to agree on further sanctions, although there is little agreement between members states on how to proceed, with some concerned over the effect any sanctions would have on their own energy supplies and economies.

The West accuse Moscow of supporting the pro-Russia militiamen who have seized government buildings and kidnapped Western military observers across cities in eastern Ukraine in recent weeks.

Following a similar pattern to the gunmen that overran Crimea last month, with individuals wearing uniforms without a national insignia, but believed to be funded and equipped by Moscow, the pro-Russia militias now control around a dozen cities in eastern Ukraine, with some also pushing for referendums on joining Russia as the “Donetsk Republic”.

The Ukrainian mayor of Kharkiv, Hennadiy Kernes, is reported to be in a serious condition in hospital after being shot in the back while out jogging,