EU fears Ukraine violence 'spiral', warns on sanctions

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union warned on Thursday that a flare-up in fighting in eastern Ukraine could create a "new spiral" of violence and recalled that EU leaders have said they could tighten sanctions on Russia.

The warning came as Ukraine's ambassador to the EU, Kostiantyn Yelisieiev, urged the bloc to take immediate steps to ramp up sanctions on Moscow over the renewed fighting.