Ambassadors of the EU's 28 nations agreed at a meeting in Brussels to broaden the bloc's travel ban and asset freeze sanctions, three diplomats separately confirmed to The Associated Press. The EU is Russia's biggest trading partner, giving it greater economic leverage over Moscow than the U.S. However, the EU treads more carefully in imposing sanctions since Russia is also one of its biggest oil and gas suppliers — and the bloc apparently shied away from following Washington's lead in targeting specific Russian companies. EU leaders have threatened Russia with tougher economic sanctions, for example targeting its financial industry or the energy sector, in case the situation in eastern Ukraine further escalates, but those sanctions are not yet being considered, EU officials said.