EU to have fresh sanctions over Ukraine on July 24

The European Union (EU) will introduce a package of further sanctions over Ukraine situation on Thursday, EU's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Tuesday.

Ashton told the bloc's Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels that the new package will include a wider sanction list of entities and persons.

The EU called its executive branches to finalize preparatory work on possible targeted measures and to present proposals for taking action, including on access to capital markets, defense, dual use goods, and sensitive technologies, including in the energy sector.

"The results of this work will be presented on Thursday, 24th July," Ashton said.

In the same meeting, EU's foreign ministers called on the separatist groups and Russia to ensure "full, immediate, safe and secure access" to the site of the Malaysian Airlines plane crash in eastern Ukraine.

The EU called on the separatist groups in the area to ensure investigators and experts access to the site and surrounding area, including a viable security corridor, in order to proceed with victim identification as well as to recover remains and possessions of those deceased in the crash.

"The EU expects all those in the area to preserve the crash site intact, including by refraining from destroying, moving, or disturbing remains, wreckage, equipment, debris or personal belongings," EU's Foreign Affairs Council said in a conclusion on Ukraine.

The EU emphasized that those directly and indirectly responsible for the downing must be held accountable and brought to justice and called on all states and parties to fully cooperate to this end.

Meanwhile, the EU urges Russia to "actively use" its influence over the area and "full cooperation" with the independent investigation, noting that the ONCE Special Monitoring Mission has already reached Eastern Ukraine.

The meeting reiterated EU's requirement for Russia "to stop the increasing flow of weapons, equipment and militants across the border" in order to achieve "rapid and tangible results in de-escalation".

The foreign ministers also urged the parties to "provide for swift, professional and dignified repatriation of the victims", as many citizens from the EU countries have been killed.