DHAKA: The EU and the US say they will impose ‘further costs’ on Russia over its actions in Ukraine, as unrest continues in the east of the country.

EU foreign ministers said on Monday they would expand a list of names targeted by EU sanctions.

Tension has been rising in Ukraine, with pro-Russian activists occupying buildings in more eastern towns.

Also on Monday, the US said a Russian fighter jet repeated close-range passes over a US warship in the Black Sea.

US president Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin spoke by phone on Monday evening.

Putin told Obama that allegations of Russian interference in Ukraine were ‘based on questionable information’.

The unrest in the east was the result ‘of the unwillingness and inability of the leadership in Kiev to take into account the interests of the Russian-speaking population’, the Kremlin said, reports the BBC.

BDST: 1330 HRS, APR 15, 2014