AKIPRESS.COM - US President Barack Obama has ordered a ban on the export of goods, technology and services to Crimea.

The executive order also imposes new sanctions on certain Russian and Ukrainian individuals and companies.

The West has imposed various sanctions on Russia since it annexed Crimea after the removal of Ukraine's pro-Moscow leader Viktor Yanukovych in February.

Mr Obama said his latest decision was to show that the US would not accept Russia's annexation.

The annexation was followed in April by pro-Russian separatists taking control of parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine and declaring independence.

Some 4,700 people have died and another million have been displaced by fighting since then, the UN says.

On Friday, five Ukrainian soldiers were killed in fighting - the highest death toll since the latest attempt at a ceasefire began on 9 December.