BRUSSELS (AP) — The chief of the European Union's executive warned Russia on Wednesday that the bloc has a battery of additional sanctions ready if Moscow decides to invade neighboring Ukraine.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said beyond scaling up and expanding existing sanctions, the EU can adopt "unprecedented measures with serious consequences for Russia.''

And in a sign of visible support, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz held a special meeting Wednesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the eve of an EU summit where the military standoff will be a key point on the agenda.

Von der Leyen told the European Parliament that economic sanctions are already in place targeting Russia’s finance, energy and sectors because of its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula in 2014 and actions since that the West sees as increasingly aggressive.

Scholz, Germany's new chancellor, reinforced von der Leyen's message, telling the lower house of the German parliament that “any violation of territorial integrity will have its price -- a high price -- and we will speak with one voice on this together with our European partners and our trans-Atlantic allies.”

Compounding the testy relations with Moscow, Germany decided Wednesday to expel two Russian diplomats after a court concluded that Moscow was behind the killing of a Chechen man in Berlin two years ago.

U.S. intelligence officials say Russia has moved 70,000 troops toward Ukraine’s border and is preparing for a possible invasion early next year. Moscow denies it has any plans to attack Ukraine and rejects Western concerns as part of a smear campaign.

In draft conclusions for Thursday's summit of EU leaders seen by The Associated Press, the 27 nations promise that “any further military aggression against Ukraine will have massive consequences and severe cost in response.”

The EU would coordinate any sanctions package with the United States and Britain. The G7 group of nations have equally been scathing in critisism of Russia.

None though have been specific about the nature of increased sanctions, arguing that keeping it under wraps gives them a diplomatic edge since Russian President Vladimir Putin would remain in the dark about the consequences of an invasion until he actually sends troops across the border, according to several officials.

It also remains unclear whether Germany would suspend the approval of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline that comes from Russia, in what could be a key element in any sanctions package.

If some nations see an attack as imminent, others, like France and Germany, believe there is still time for diplomacy to work. Scholz called for talks on the Ukraine-Russia tensions.

"We must be prepared frequently to attempt to reach agreement, attempt to break out of the spiral of escalation,” Scholz told German lawmakers on Wednesday.

In 2015, France and Germany brought Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table and brokered a peace agreement that helped end large-scale hostilities in eastern Ukraine, where Ukrainian forces have been fighting Russia-backed separatists since 2014. Still the conflict that left 14,000 dead has simmered.

Scholz warned that more talks “must not be misunderstood as a new German ‘Ostpolitik,’” referring to West German Chancellor Willy Brandt’s policy of détente toward the communist Eastern bloc in the early 1970s.

There “can only be a European ‘Ostpolitik’ in a united Europe” that is based on principles of international law and order that Russia committed itself to but violated with the annexation of Crimea, he said.

Efforts to reach a political settlement to the separatist conflict in Ukraine have failed. Sporadic skirmishes continue along the tense line of contact. Russia so far refuses to meet France and Germany for more peace talks on the conflict.

Geir Moulson contributed from Berlin.