BRUSSELS: EU foreign ministers are under pressure Monday to hit Russia with fresh Ukraine sanctions after a fraught G20 summit and at the same time, get a battered peace plan back on track.
Western leaders in Brisbane at the weekend slammed President Vladimir Putin for Russia's "unacceptable" intervention in Ukraine and said Moscow faced more punishment as a result.
The West would keep up the pressure for years if necessary, to get Russia to reverse course, said British Premier David Cameron who branded Putin a "bully".
Analysts said the exchanges plus Putin's early departure from the summit do not bode well for resolving the crisis, with neither side apparently now interested in maintaining even a semblence of politeness.
On Sunday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said his country was "prepared for total war" as fighting continued around the rebel stronghold of Donetsk.
All of which puts new European Union external affairs chief Federica Mogherini, formerly the Italian foreign minister, in the spotlight as she chairs her first foreign ministers meeting Monday.
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