By Rachel Armstrong SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The United States is lobbying Asian governments to join in sanctions imposed by Washington and the European Union against Russia over its support for separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine, a senior State Department official said on Wednesday. The European Union and United States announced further financial measures against Russia on Tuesday, targeting its energy, banking and defense sectors in their strongest action yet. Now they are looking for backing from Asia, given that Russian trade flows are focused increasingly on that part of the world. "It is certainly our hope that countries in this region, which includes many significant commercial and financial centers, will join us in putting this kind of pressure on Russia," the official told reporters in Singapore.