British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed to take further punitive measures against Russia over annexing the Crimean region.

British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed to take further punitive measures against Russia over annexing the Crimean region.

In a phone call on Wednesday, Cameron and Merkel discussed the need for the imposition of "further consequences" on Moscow over Russia's bid to embrace the Crimean region, a Downing Street spokesperson said, according to a statement on the UK government website.

"They reiterated that Sunday's referendum in Crimea and Russia's subsequent actions to annex Crimea are both illegal and agreed that the EU should impose further consequences on Russia, building on the travel bans and asset freezes agreed by European foreign ministers on Monday," the spokesperson said.

The two sides were of the same mind on the need for providing Kiev with the economic assistance it needed, the spokesperson added.

Crimea declared independence from Ukraine on Monday and formally applied to become part of Russia, following a referendum on Sunday, in which 96.8 percent of participants voted in favor of the secession. The voter turnout in the referendum stood at 83.1 percent.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and parliament are pressing ahead with a process to officially declare Crimea as part of the Russian Federation despite condemnation from the West and Ukraine.

The EU foreign ministers, however, agreed to impose sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, on 13 Russian nationals and 8 people from the Crimean territory.