Britain says European leaders ready to push ahead with Russia sanctions

LONDON (Reuters) - European leaders spoke early on Thursday and agreed to push ahead with a package of sanctions against Russia by the end of the week, due to its aggression towards Ukraine, the spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron said.

"This morning the prime minister took part in a joint call with several fellow European leaders; president (Herman) Van Rompuy, Chancellor (Angela) Merkel, president (Francois) Hollande and prime minister (Matteo) Renzi," the spokesman said.

"(They spoke) to discuss the subject of sanctions against Russia in the context of Ukraine and agreement to proceed with the implementation of the sanction package that was agreed earlier in the week."

Sanctions come into force when published in the official journal of the European Commission. "They were in agreement it should be published by the end of the week," the spokesman said.

(Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; Editing by Toby Chopra)