The European Union is expected to levy sanctions to an additional 15 Russian and Ukrainian individuals and 18 firms on Friday for their role in the Ukraine crisis.

Sources said the 18 entities are comprised of nine institutions and nine firms believed to be pro-Russia separatists.

The meeting attended by the 28-member state ambassadors in Brussels on Thursday announced an accord to put additional entities and personalities to the sanctions list. The details of the meeting are expected to be revealed in the Union's official publication on Friday.

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The talks will resume on Friday, while a meeting to decide on broader sanctions for separatists are expected to begin as early as next week.

Currently, 72 names linked to pro-Russia groups are subjected to sanctions such as asset freezes and travel restrictions.

The EU is also considering imposing restrictions to access Russian capital markets, energy and weapons technology.

Specifically, EU member investors would be banned from buying shares and acquiring capital from banks which are majority-owned by the Russian state, the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty said.

Last year, state-owned banks had earned almost 7.9 billion euro (US$10.65 billion), nearly half of their capital needs from the EU market. Some of the banks that contributed to this figure include Sberbank, Russian Agriculture Bank (Rosselkhozbank), VEB and VTB.

A weapons block is also considered although the EU is quick to point out that the sanction - if approved - would be applied to future deals and would not affect the 2011 arms contract involving the French warships to Russia.

The bloc is also deliberating on limiting exports on technology for shale and energy research and deep sea drilling.

But despite its stance against Moscow's takeover of Crimea, the EU has reportedly been divisive over imposing broader sanctions that would threaten the Russian economy.

While some member states including Britain, Lithuania and Poland call for tougher action against Moscow, others like Italy and Germany find themselves in a tough spot since they maintain wide-ranging economic partnerships with Russia.

Meanwhile, other countries have also started to take action to deal with the Ukraine crisis.

Canada on Thursday announced that it would impose a "broad range" of restrictions on Russian banks and companies, citing natural gas producer Novatek, state development bank Vnesheconombank and small arms manufacturer Kalashnikov.

Last week, the U.S. said it would impose sanctions on Russian firms Vnesheconombank and oil giant Rosneft.

TagsRussia, Crimea, pro-Russia, EU, European Union, EU sanctions, Sberbank, Russian Agriculture Bank, VEB, VTB, Kalashnikov, Vnesheconombank, Rosneft, Ukraine crisis, Crimean crisis