Germany pressures Slovakia to OK new EU sanctions on Russia

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Thursday urged Slovakia to drop its veto on the European Union's new sanctions package against Russia.

At the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome, Merz emphasized that all countries should increase pressure on Moscow to compel Russian leadership to return to the negotiating table and end the war in Ukraine.

"We are preparing the 18th sanctions package within the EU against Russia. There is only one member state missing to agree on that," Merz told participants, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and several European leaders.

"I urgently ask Slovakia and its Prime Minister (Robert Fico) to give up the resistance, and to make the way free for package number 18 within the European Union," he stressed.

Merz noted that Ukraine has agreed to an immediate ceasefire without preconditions, while Russia has instead escalated its military attacks, targeting Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure with missiles and drones.

"This has to end. Therefore, it remains our political duty to increase pressure on Russia in order to change President Vladimir Putin's calculus, and bring him to the negotiating table," he said.