The EU is employing different tactics, in hopes Russia will help end the crisis in eastern Ukraine.

A spokeswoman for the EU foreign policy chief says new economic sanctions on Russia would take effect Friday.

"In response, the European Union is deepening the measures in four areas where we already have measures in place since July. We are talking about access to capital markets, defence, sensitive technologies, and dual-use goods," said Maja Kocijancic, spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chieg Catherince Ashton.

The Russian Foreign Ministry is calling the new sanctions an "unfriendly policy."

"The Russian political leadership has already made it clear to politicians of various levels that we will take adequate measures and our response will be proportional to the damage which these sanctions cause to the economies of our state," according to the ministry's spokesman Alexander Lukashevich.

But EU ambassadors say they may cancel some or all of the sanctions next month if they believe a peace plan is working.

A strategy much different from what these fighters are preparing for.