Brussels : The head of the European Union's executive commission warned Russia that the bloc may get ready for additional sanctions if Moscow decides to invade neighboring Ukraine.

"Unprecedented measures with serious consequences for Russia'‘, beyond scaling up and expanding existing sanctions may be adopted, President of European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said on the eve of an EU summit on the issue. She did not elaborate on what form any new sanctions would take.

U.S. intelligence officials say Russia has moved 70,000 troops toward Ukraine’s border and is preparing for a possible invasion early next year. Moscow denies it has any plans to attack Ukraine and rejects Western concerns as part of a smear campaign. If some nations see an attack as imminent, others, like France and Germany, believe there is still time for diplomacy to work.

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will have talks with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Brussels very soon. In 2015, France and Germany brought Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table and brokered a peace agreement that helped end large-scale hostilities in eastern Ukraine, where Ukrainian forces have been fighting Russia-backed separatists since 2014.

Efforts to reach a political settlement to the separatist conflict, which has killed more than 14,000 people in seven years, have failed. Sporadic skirmishes continue along the tense line of contact. Russia so far refused to meet France and Germany for more peace talks on the conflict.

Von der Leyen told the European Parliament that there are already economic sanctions in place targeting Russia’s finance, energy and sectors because of its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula in 2014 and actions since that the West sees as increasingly aggressive.
Meanwhile, Germany's new chancellor, Olaf Scholz, reinforced von der Leyen's message, telling the lower house of the German parliament that “any violation of territorial integrity will have its price, a high price and we will speak with one voice on this together with our European partners and our trans-Atlantic allies. “But Scholz called for talks on the Ukraine-Russia tensions.

In draft conclusions for the summit of EU leaders, the 27 nations promise that “any further military aggression against Ukraine will have massive consequences and severe cost in response.” The EU would coordinate any sanctions package with the United States and Britain.