EU Council head Tusk urges G-7 leaders to keep up sanctions against Russia for Ukraine

European Council President Donald Tusk speaks during a media conference at the G-7 summit at Schloss Elmau hotel near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, southern Germany, Sunday, June 7, 2015. The two-day summit will address such issues as climate change, poverty and the situation in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo) (The Associated Press)

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, left, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, hidden, French President Francois Hollande, European Council President Donald Tusk, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, United States President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Birtish Prime Minister David Cameron, right, walk to a group photo at the Schloss Elmau near Garmisch, Germany at the G7 Summit Sunday June 7, 2015. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP) (The Associated Press)

US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel walk together as the president arrives in Kruen, near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, southern Germany, Sunday, June 7, 2015, before attending the G-7 summit in Schloss Elmau hotel. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) (The Associated Press)

European Union President Donald Tusk is urging leaders at the Group of Seven summit to present a united front on maintaining sanctions against Russia for its actions in Ukraine.

Tusk, a former Polish prime minister, says the only question is whether to make the sanctions even tougher.

He told a news conference Sunday that "if anyone wants to start a debate about the sanctions regime, the discussion could only be about strengthening them."

The U.S. and the European Union have imposed financial restrictions on Russian companies and individuals over Russian support for separatists in eastern Ukraine. They and NATO say Russian troops and military equipment are in eastern Ukraine — something Russia denies.

Tusk said the summit in Bavaria could "reconfirm the G-7 unity on the sanctions policy."