European leaders have asserted to impose heavy sanctions on Russia during their meeting in Ukraine on Monday if it fails to agree to a complete ceasefire. The sanctions package would target Russia’s oil and finance sector if it does not conform to the agreement by the end of Monday.
While addressing a press conference, German government spokesperson, Stefan Kornelius, said that “The clock is ticking. We still have 12 hours until the end of this day.”
Leaders from France, Germany, Britain and Poland had arrived in Ukraine on Saturday and indicated towards achieving a 30-day ceasefire. The truce is yet to be accepted by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"What we are preparing are additional sanctions which target the energy and financial sector. We asked this weekend for the European Commission to prepare new more important sanctions to force Russian President Vladimir Putin into a peace logic,” claimed French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot on a phone call with his European counterparts and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as reported by Reuters.
Russia, however, has deemed the language of the offer as unacceptable. The language of ultimatums is unacceptable - you cannot talk to Russia like this,” the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
Barrot asserted that, "We are preparing powerful and massive sanctions if Putin does not accept a ceasefire." According to reports, US and European sanctions will impose around 500 percent tariffs on nations that import Russian oil.
