Ukrainian soldiers standing at a checkpoint at the Ukrainian town of Pervomaysk yesterday.

The United States and European Union imposed new sanctions against Russia yesterday, tightening financial measures against Moscow over its intervention in Ukraine despite a week-old ceasefire which has brought calm to the embattled east.

President Vladimir Putin called the new sanctions “a bit strange” given the truce, part of a peace deal reached last week between Kiev and pro-Russian rebels.

New sanctions from the EU would limit access by Russian oil companies to funds. Sanctions from the US hit Russia’s biggest bank and an arms maker, and bar US firms from helping five big Russian oil companies explore hard to reach deposits.

Washington and Brussels have steadily tightened economic sanctions against Russia since it annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula in March.

A ceasefire has largely held since the peace deal was signed a week ago

They accuse Moscow of fomenting a rebellion by pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine’s east, an area that Putin has named “New Russia”, and say Putin escalated the conflict last month by sending thousands of troops across the border. Russia denies aiding the separatists or sending troops.

A ceasefire has largely held since the peace deal was signed a week ago and the front has been quiet for the past few days, although Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko said yesterday the truce was still “very fragile”.

US officials said the new sanctions could be lifted if Moscow withdraws all troops from Ukraine, frees prisoners and creates a buffer zone on both sides of the frontier to prevent cross-border shelling.

“What we’re looking for with regard to Russian action is the complete removal of all military personnel, military equipment, support for military and mercenaries on the territory of Ukraine, release of all hostages,” a senior US official told reporters in a conference call explaining the sanctions.

The EU has said it could lift some of even all of the sanctions if Moscow abides by last week’s truce and other parts of the new peace plan.

Moscow has already responded to sanctions by banning the import of most Western food. It said it could take further measures and might appeal to the World Trade Organisation.

“Regarding retaliatory measures, the government is thinking about them, but only those that will create better conditions for us will be applied,” Putin said after a meeting of a regional security bloc in ex-Soviet Tajikistan.

His Foreign Ministry said it would respond quickly to the “hostile step”.

Moscow also said it could use state funds to help support firms hit by sanctions.

The economies of Russia and Europe are deeply entwined, especially in energy: Russia is Europe’s main supplier of natural gas.

Moscow has floated new retaliatory steps, including barring Western airlines from using its air space, which would cost it hundreds of millions of dollars in overflight fees.

Ukraine has signed up to the free trade deal with the EU, a move that could have triggered damaging Russian trade restrictions on Ukrainian goods.

In an apparent move to ease tension, Brussels said yesterday it had agreed with Kiev and Moscow to delay full implementation of the free trade deal until the end of next year to allow more time for negotiations.

Ukrainian goods will still enjoy preferential access to the EU market but Ukraine will not have to cut duties on imports from the EU until 2016, Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said.

“This is part and parcel of a comprehensive peace process in Ukraine,” he said.