Germany's Angela Merkel and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Wednesday that the leading industrial powers would stand united on further sanctions against Russia if needed, despite Moscow's threat to retaliate against foreign energy companies.
Both are struggling to strike a balance between admonishing Moscow for annexing Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and failing to control pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, and looking after their countries' business interests and energy supplies.
The European Union, Japan and the United States have placed visa bans and asset freezes on dozens of individuals, some close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, but have held back on wider trade sanctions despite an escalation of the crisis in Ukraine.