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EU's Rehn counsels restraint on Russia sanctions

European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn addresses a news conference on macro-financial assistance to Ukraine, in Brussels March 19, 2014. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

HELSINKI (Reuters) - The European Union should refrain from harsh sanctions against Russia if it does not escalate a crisis over Ukraine, the EU's top economic official said on Friday. Since Russia's annexation of the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, the European Union has imposed sanctions against the closest allies of President Vladimir Putin. Group of Seven governments have suspended top-level contacts with Russia. U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel talked on Thursday about potential further sanctions for Russia over its actions in Ukraine, calling on Moscow to move its troops back from the border region. Rehn, on leave from his post at the EU to run for the European Parliament, told a panel discussion in Helsinki: "If Russia does not escalate or widen the crisis, then we can avoid toughening our sanctions. This is surely what every sensible European and Russian hopes for." (Reporting by Sakari Suoninen; editing by Ralph Boulton)