Europe Are Reluctant To Add Russia Sanctions As Putin Pushes On

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Monday nobody was blindly set on imposing further sanctions on Moscow over its stance in eastern Ukraine, ahead of a meeting of European foreign ministers in Brussels on Thursday.

But he added that an offensive by pro-Russian separatists against the eastern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol would constitute a significant change in the situation, to which Europe would have to react.

Steinmeier also warned that time was running out for implementing the Minsk peace accord struck last September and he urged Moscow to send a clear order to rebels in eastern Ukraine.

Angela Merkel's spokesman said on Monday the German chancellor had urged pro-Russian separatists to halt their offensive on the east Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, and asked Russia's Vladimir Putin in a call on Sunday to use his influence over them.

"If we want to get out of this spiral of escalation and give diplomacy a chance, then it is absolutely crucial that above all the pro-Russian separatists finally respect the cease fire," Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert told a press conference.

Germany reiterated there was a real threat of an escalation of violence in eastern Ukraine without the implementation of the Minsk peace accord, and urged Russia to ensure separatists withdraw heavy weapons as previously agreed.

Asked about possible further sanctions against Moscow, a foreign ministry spokesman said European foreign ministers would meet on Thursday and decide how to react.

"I can't tell you if there will be more or less sanctions," the spokesman said.

(Reporting by Sabine Siebold, Alexandra Hudson, and Michael Nienaber; Writing by Alexandra Hudson; Editing by Stephen Brown)