West warns Russia of 'consequences' ahead of Ukrainian prez elections

France and Germany have warned Russia of 'consequences' if it continued to create more problems in Ukraine ahead of presidential elections this month.

In a joint statement on Saturday, French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel also urged Ukraine's security forces to stop their offensive on rebel-held positions ahead of the planned May 25 election.

The warnings suggested that the West might soon move to broaden its sanctions regime against Russia to include whole sections of the recession-bound Russian economy, news.com.au reports.