Germany's Merz condemns Russian 'terror against civilians' in Ukraine
Speaking at a press conference with his Dutch counterpart Dick Schoof, Merz called the recent Russian attacks "the most serious war crimes" and said Russia had "attacked no military targets but the civilian population".
Merz said that Russia's latest actions were "anything but a proportionate response to the very precise Ukrainian attacks on military airfields and infrastructure in the last week".
"Russia wanted to create a bloodbath and the fact that this only happened in a limited way is thanks to effective Ukrainian defence," he said, adding: "Once again, Russia is escalating instead of negotiating".
Merz's comments come ahead of a G7 summit in Canada on June 15-17 and a NATO meeting later in the month, where allies will push US President Donald Trump to be more aggressive in punishing the Kremlin.
Schoof agreed on the importance of supporting Kyiv, saying that Ukraine was fighting not only for its own security "but also for the security of Europe... after a war of aggression that was started by Russia".
On the question of new sanctions on Russia from the European Union, Merz said he had been in touch with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen in recent days "and I encourage her to introduce this new round quickly".
"There will be further sanctions on the banking sector, in the energy sector," he said.
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Merz said that while Kyiv's allies were "ready for negotiations at any time, if negotiations are refused -- and they are being refused on the Russian side", then the response must be "military strength and massive economic pressure".
Ukraine's allies must send "a signal of strength and deterrence" to Russia, Merz said.
"This is unfortunately the only language that Moscow understands in the current weeks and months."
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