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BRUSSELS/NEWPORT, WALES: The European Union is set to agree new economic sanctions against Russia on Friday but will wait before implementing them to give Moscow time to show if it is respecting a proposed ceasefire in Ukraine, diplomats said.

How long it would hold off has yet to be decided, and if a peace holds then the package might not be implemented at all.

Two diplomats said EU leaders could give President Vladimir Putin a week to demonstrate he was resolving the conflict, another spoke of 72 hours. Envoys from member states meet in Brussels on Friday afternoon and the diplomats said the details of the sanctions package should be settled then.

"They want to give the ceasefire a chance," one said of hopes of a deal between Russia and Ukraine in Minsk on Friday.

Another said: "If the ceasefire holds, then there is a possibility of not implementing sanctions at all."

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko and the main pro-Russian rebel leader both announced on Thursday they would call a ceasefire on Friday if a peace deal is signed in Minsk, which would be the first such breakthrough in the five-month war.

The European Union and United States imposed sanctions against Russia after Moscow annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in March, and tightened them since then, accusing Russia of supporting pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine's east.

The latest wave of sanctions was announced after Western countries said they believed Russia had send ground troops into Ukraine, helping the rebels launch a major advance last week.

Once EU ambassadors agree the next wave of sanctions, it would take a decision by the 28 national leaders to put the measures into effect.

British Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond told the BBC he favoured going ahead with the immediate implementation of sanctions and then lifting them if the ceasefire held.

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European Union to give Russia days to make peace before new sanctions: Sources

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Moscow (CNN) -- European Union nations are considering new sanctions against Russia amid cautious optimism that a ceasefire will go into effect Friday in eastern Ukraine.

A new round of proposed sanctions has been handed to member states, EU spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said.

"A decision on implementing them will only be taken in light of developments on the ground," she said. "If there is a ceasefire agreed in Minsk today, member states would look at how serious it was and decide whether to go forward."

Minsk, the capital of Belarus, is where pro-Russian rebels are to hold ceasefire talks Friday with Ukrainian and Russian officials.

A ceasefire deal would be a major step in ending a nearly five-month conflict in eastern Ukraine, where Kiev accuses Moscow of sending troops to aid pro-Russian separatists -- a claim Moscow denies.

Crisis in Ukraine

Crisis in Ukraine

Crisis in Ukraine

Crisis in Ukraine

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EU weighs sanctions on Russia

BRUSSELS: Among the pressing issues being discussed at the NATO summit is how to tackle Muslim militants who control vast chunks of Iraq and Syria. The United States wants to forge an international coalition, while Britain said it is actively considering arming Kurdish fighters.

Separately, the European Union is mulling over a proposal to enable European governments to track people's movements in the fight against extremism and the debate over flight passenger information sharing is on the move again.

Reports of hundreds of extremists flying to fight with groups like the Islamic State (IS) militant group - and many also returning to their home countries - has caused the EU to think about tracking where people are going via the Passenger Name Records.

Timothy Kirkhope, British Member of the European Parliament (MEP), said: "As things are, it seems to me that we have now moved from a situation where complete privacy is achievable, to one where a little bit of privacy has to be sacrificed in order to have more security. And we're now living in a world which is so dangerous and the threats are so great, that I think people - to protect themselves, their families, their friends, their community - expect the politicians to deliver on security above all else."

But there are concerns that accessing such information would be a breach of passenger privacy. Under the proposed new law, European governments would be able to access the personal flight passenger information across Europe, and it would include names, how they booked their ticket and where they are flying to and from.

It would mean that Muslim extremists would be able to be tracked across Europe, but some passengers have questioned whether this measure will be enough. One passenger said: "I wouldn't be against it. Just on the one condition that the information would be used only by authorised bodies, such as intelligence agencies or whatever."

When the topic was debated in the European Parliament, some MEPs insisted it was completely against European law. Jan Phillipp Albrecht, German MEP, said: "There are severe constitutional consequences of such a proposal. If you look at the judgements of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, that is again and again, not in line with the rule of law and human rights from article 7 and 8 from the Convention on privacy and protection of private life."

The proposal was rejected back in 2013, but amid violence intensifying across the Middle East, sacrificing passenger privacy may be seen as a necessity to tackle the problem of radical Islamists across Europe.

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EU mulls air passenger data sharing in fight against extremism

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Moscow (CNN) -- European Union nations are considering new sanctions against Russia amid cautious optimism that a ceasefire will go into effect Friday in eastern Ukraine.

A new round of proposed sanctions has been handed to member states, EU spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said.

"A decision on implementing them will only be taken in light of developments on the ground," she said. "If there is a ceasefire agreed in Minsk today, member states would look at how serious it was and decide whether to go forward."

Minsk, the capital of Belarus, is where pro-Russian rebels are to hold ceasefire talks Friday with Ukrainian and Russian officials.

A ceasefire deal would be a major step in ending a nearly five-month conflict in eastern Ukraine, where Kiev accuses Moscow of sending troops to aid pro-Russian separatists -- a claim Moscow denies.

Crisis in Ukraine

Crisis in Ukraine

Crisis in Ukraine

Crisis in Ukraine

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West considers new sanctions on Russia

Secret Accounts and Tax Evasion
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