BERLIN (Reuters) - 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.