BERLIN: The European Union should go ahead with the announcement of new economic sanctions against Russia, Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday, adding that they could always be suspended at a later date if there was substantial progress towards a peace plan for Ukraine.
"In view of the current situation, which has indeed brought an improvement in relation to military activities - it is not a 100 percent ceasefire but it's an improvement - the lack of clarity on many other points I named means we are in favour of making these sanctions public now," Merkel told the German parliament.
The chancellor added that Germany would be "the first" to recommend suspending the sanctions if a 12-point peace plan for Ukraine is implemented. The EU approved new sanctions on Monday but has delayed implementing them to assess the ceasefire. EU ambassadors meet on Wednesday to discuss the next steps.
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