EU foreign ministers today downplayed the threat of new sanctions against Russia but warned they remain on the table if Moscow undermined the latest Ukraine ceasefire accord.
France and Germany brokered a second Minsk peace agreement with Russia and Ukraine last month which so far seems to be holding, though the situation remains fragile and the outlook for full implementation is uncertain.
The concern in Brussels is that if the accord falls apart like its September predecessor, that would bolster calls in Washington for much tougher action, including possibly arming Kiev to combat the pro-Russian rebels.
"So far the ceasefire... Is not perfect but for sure the trend is positive," EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini said as EU foreign ministers gathered in the Latvian capital Riga, where Russian intervention in Ukraine is seen as a direct security threat.
Asked about the possibility of additional sanctions, Mogherini said: "Obviously they are always there."
"They will not be lifted until something really good happens on the ground and on the other side we are always ready to increase the pressure if needed," she said.
"But I don't start from that. I start from the positive actions the European Union can do now to make things work."
What mattered was the ceasefire, especially the withdrawal of heavy weapons by both sides, Mogherini said, and to strengthen OSCE monitoring implementation on the ground.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier echoed Mogherini's stand, saying Berlin was focused on the Minsk accord, not sanctions.
"We are trying to accelerate again the (peace) process. That is the issue in the foreground and not the question if there will be new sanctions," Steinmeier said as he arrived for the Riga meeting.
As the Ukraine crisis deepened last year, the EU cautiously followed the US lead to hit prominent Russians and Ukrainians with travel bans and asset freezes.
But the shooting down of a Malaysia Airline plane over Ukraine in July, blamed on pro-Russian rebels in the east, saw holdouts Germany and Italy agree to much tougher economic sector sanctions.
The question since has been what comes next?
Hardline Poland today raised the "nuclear option" of blocking Russian access to the SWIFT bank settlement system, an explosive move capable of crippling Russia's economy that Moscow has said would be tantamount to war.
