The European Union is expected to urgently agree sanctions against those responsible for the violence in Ukraine, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso confirmed.

In the wake of severe violence in several parts of Ukraine on Tuesday, when at least 25 people died, France is gearing up to ask for European Union sanctions against authorities in Ukraine, probably the President and security-

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has expressed “grave concern” over escalation in violence in Kiev and called on Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych to pull back security forces and exercise maximum restraint.