EU readies capital, tech sanctions on Russia, but not yet

Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier attends a meeting with BMW executives in Mexico City July 17, 2014. REUTERS/Bernardo Montoya

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union threatened Russia on Tuesday with harsher sanctions over Ukraine that could inflict wider damage on its economy following the downing of a Malaysian airliner, but it delayed action for a few days.

Efforts to forge a united front were hampered by a French announcement that the planned delivery of a warship to Moscow would go ahead despite U.S. and British pleas to halt it.