Chancellor Angela Merkel has said Germany supports tighter EU sanctions on Russia over its annexation of Crimea. This came ahead of an EU summit in Brussels to discuss the bloc’s collective response.
Chancellor Merkel used her speech to the Bundestag on Thursday to tell lawmakers that her government supported plans to step up sanctions on Moscow as a result of the Kremlin’s continuing moves to absorb the Ukrainian autonomous territory of Crimea into the Russian Federation.
“At the European Council beginning today, the heads of state and government of the European Union will fix further phase-two sanctions that we agreed two weeks ago,” Merkel said.
“These include an extension of the list of responsible people against whom travel restrictions and account freezes are in effect,” she added.
The chancellor also warned that tighter sanctions could follow.
“The European Council will make it clear today and tomorrow that with a further deterioration of the situation we are always prepared to take phase-three measures, and those will without a doubt include economic sanctions,” she said.
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