Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague warned Russia that the EU was ready to impose tougher sanctions over the crisis in Ukraine if it is not satisfied with Moscow's response to Kiev's peace plan. Speaking before a meeting in Luxembourg of European Union foreign ministers, Hague said leaders of the bloc's 28 states would weigh Russian actions at a summit in Brussels. The EU has drawn up plans to impose a range of economic penalties on Russia but has held back from imposing them because of concerns among some member states about antagonising their major energy supplier. "(Russian president Vladimir) Putin should be in no doubt that in the EU we are ready to take those measures," Hague told reporters. "A lot of work has gone on preparing wider sanctions on Russia." "By Friday we will be able to see how Russia is responding to the peace plan," he said. The United States has already threatened sanctions on Russia's financial, defence and high-tech industries as more Russian military material has flowed into Ukraine, and has intensified talks with Europe over imposing similar measures. "The idea here is to deny Russia the kinds of investment and next-generation technology that it needs to continue to grow," a senior U.S. administration official said last week. The EU has so far imposed several rounds of sanctions against Russia over its actions in Ukraine, focusing largely on targeting individuals accused of destabilising Ukraine and involved in Moscow's annexation of Crimea. Difficult Talks Also in Luxembourg, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said sanctions would be on the agenda this week, including during talks with Ukraine's new Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, but stopped short of saying whether she supported any new measures. "That's what the Council (ministers) will have to discuss today ... But we need to base it on our discussions with the Ukrainian foreign minister," she told reporters. Sweden's Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said there were various points of view within the EU but the option of tougher sanctions remained on the table. "At the end of every meeting I have attended on this issue we have reached an agreement on a position that I consider rather strong," he told reporters. Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko wants Putin's unqualified backing for a 15-point peace plan he announced on Friday. This will include the signing on June 27 of an association agreement with the EU which contains a free-trade deal as well as a series of talks with separatist rebels and a seven-day unilateral ceasefire. Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich refused to sign that agreement last November, prompting an uprising that brought him down and led to Russia annexing Crimea in March. As part of their wider response to Russian actions, EU foreign ministers approved on Monday new rules prohibiting the imports of goods originating in Crimea into the EU. In preparation for summit, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier announced plans to travel to Kiev to meet Poroshenko on Tuesday. "We hope and expect that Russia is willing to cooperate," he told reporters in Luxembourg. (Reuters)