You're reading: Agence France-Presse: EU threatens new Russia sanctions over Ukraine violence

BRUSSELS - European Union leaders on Jan. 27 threatened new sanctions against Russia over a bloody offensive by pro-Kremlin Ukrainian rebels, backing, the latest bid to pressure a defiant President Vladimir Putin. The decision came a day after Standard and Poor's downgraded Russia's foreign currency rating to junk because of its eroding economic health, weakened by a wave of Western financial restrictions last year and the plunging price of its oil exports.

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