By Doina Chiacu and Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States' government said on Monday it will decide "in days" on additional sanctions if Russia does not take steps to implement an agreement to ease tensions in Ukraine reached in Geneva last week.
The steps include publicly calling on pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine to vacate occupied buildings and checkpoints, accept an amnesty and address their grievances politically, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
"If they don't take steps in the coming days, there'll be consequences," she said at a Monday news briefing. "Obviously, we would have to make a decision in the matter of - in a matter of days - if there are going to be consequences for inaction."
Some U.S. lawmakers have been clamoring for President Barack Obama's administration to impose stiff new sanctions on Russia's energy industry and major banks to encourage President Vladimir Putin to withdraw troops from the Ukrainian border and discourage further Russian incursions into Ukrainian territory.
"I think it's time to move on the next round of sanctions," Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy told Reuters on Monday, although he added that he backed giving Moscow two to three days to implement the Geneva agreement.
"I think it is important to explore diplomatic solutions when they potentially become available," the Democratic chairman of the Senate's Europe subcommittee said in a telephone interview.
"The Russians were willing to sit down in Geneva for the first time across the table from their Ukrainian counterparts, I think that discussion was worthwhile. I don't think the jury is fully in on the Geneva agreement," he said.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States' government said on Monday it will decide "in days" on additional sanctions if Russia does not take steps to implement an agreement to ease tensions in Ukraine reached in Geneva last week.
The steps include publicly calling on pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine to vacate occupied buildings and checkpoints, accept an amnesty and address their grievances politically, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
"If they don't take steps in the coming days, there'll be consequences," she said at a Monday news briefing. "Obviously, we would have to make a decision in the matter of - in a matter of days - if there are going to be consequences for inaction."
Some U.S. lawmakers have been clamoring for President Barack Obama's administration to impose stiff new sanctions on Russia's energy industry and major banks to encourage President Vladimir Putin to withdraw troops from the Ukrainian border and discourage further Russian incursions into Ukrainian territory.
"I think it's time to move on the next round of sanctions," Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy told Reuters on Monday, although he added that he backed giving Moscow two to three days to implement the Geneva agreement.
"I think it is important to explore diplomatic solutions when they potentially become available," the Democratic chairman of the Senate's Europe subcommittee said in a telephone interview.
"The Russians were willing to sit down in Geneva for the first time across the table from their Ukrainian counterparts, I think that discussion was worthwhile. I don't think the jury is fully in on the Geneva agreement," he said.
