Easing sanctions now, for whatever reason, is wrong. We believe that is the wrong course of action. After all, we want to ensure that Russia does not exploit the war in Iran to weaken Ukraine. Six members of the G7 were very clear in their opinion that this would not send the right signal.
Now is not the time to ease sanctions, for whatever reason. Moscow continues to show no willingness to negotiate and pressure on the Kremlin must increase. Germany and its allies will continue backing Ukraine, and the Iran conflict will not distract from that effort.
We may be, in the course of 2026, coming to a point where the whole thing becomes unsustainable, because so much of the Russian economy has been distorted so much by the building up of the war economy at the expense of the civil economy. I think defying the laws of economic gravity can only go on for so long.
Guten Morgen from a wet and dreary Bonn. We are expecting the five suspects who were arrested on Monday on suspicion of violating sanctions against Russia to appear in court today and we will be looking into a new report about poverty in Germany. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is also expected to host a carnival reception at the Chancellery in Berlin, which will hopefully provide some interesting pictures. For this and more, keep reading.
Firstly, there has been the outright public scepticism from the UK and European allies to America's designs on Greenland. Secondly, the circumspect position of the British government on Washington's actions in Venezuela in which the prime minister welcomed the ends, the removal of President Maduro, but didn't want to be publicly drawn on the legality or otherwise of the means. And then, thirdly, the pride in assisting America in the seizing of a ship in the North Atlantic, itself a reminder of how close to home this brings the headlines of recent days.
The European Commission president was in Serbia as part of her tour of the Western Balkans to discuss EU enlargement with candidate countries in the region. That day, she invited Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to come to Brussels a month later so that the two could "take stock together." That was October; this is December. According to multiple sources who spoke to DW, the meeting was postponed because Serbia had no progress to report.
The Foreign Office said there had been "a summer of Russian delay tactics at peace talks" aimed at ending the conflict in the region, as well as increased attacks on Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure. Cooper added support for Kyiv was "unwavering and stronger than ever" and that fresh funding would support Ukraine through the winter and into 2026. She continued: "Putin's bombardment of Ukrainian civilians, his stalling and delaying in internationally-backed peace talks, and his blatant disregard for human life must end."
Behind the scenes: White House officials are losing patience with European leaders, whom they claim are pushing Ukraine to hold out for unrealistic territorial concessions by Russia. Axios has learned that the sanctions the U.S. is urging Europe to adopt against Russia include a complete cessation of all oil and gas purchases - plus secondary tariffs from the EU on India and China, similar to those already imposed on India by the U.S.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last night he was making progress in talks with European and US partners on designing potential security guarantees for Ukraine should the war be brought to a close. In his nightly address, he said: It is important that everything be as practical as possible what forces on the ground, in the air, at sea everything must be clearly defined. And the foundation of our security is our strong Ukrainian army, which means long-term financing and the provision of weapons all of this will be ensured.
