Berlin - European leaders will discuss stepping up economic sanctions against Russia, after recent reports have indicated a growing presence of Russian troops in Ukraine and a worsening of the conflict, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday, Aug. 28.
Her comments came after Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko said earlier in the day that Russian forces had entered the country and seized the coastal town of Novoazovsk, as well as several villages near the border with Russia.
Separately, a senior military officer from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization said Russia has “well over” 1,000 troops operating in Ukraine.
“We get reports about a stronger presence of Russian soldiers and about new unrest and new advances of separatists in regions where it had been quiet so far,” Merkel told journalists after talks with the leaders of Balkan states in Berlin.
“This shows that we will have to discuss the question [about further sanctions] at the European Council meeting,” she said. “We have repeatedly said, already in March this year that a further escalation will lead to talks about further sanctions.”
European Union leaders are set to meet in Brussels on Aug. 30 to discuss the situation in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Poroshenko will also be in Brussels that day.
