US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday that Western sanctions must remain in place against Russia until it complies with a ceasefire deal with Ukraine.
"The two leaders discussed the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and agreed that the duration of sanctions should be clearly linked to Russia's full implementation of the Minsk agreements and respect for Ukraine's sovereignty," the White House said in a statement released on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Germany. Obama and Merkel held private talks ahead of the summit and the US president earlier urged his fellow G7 leaders to stand up together against "Russian aggression in Ukraine".
Peace talks on Ukraine resumed in Minsk on May 6 as clashes have intensified on the ground in a conflict that has killed more than 6,400 people since April 2014.
The negotiations are aimed at enforcing the implementation of a peace deal reached in Minsk in February, leading to an extremely fragile ceasefire that is regularly breached across the eastern conflict zone.
The Minsk deal, agreed under pressure from the leaders of Germany and France, states that all conditions —including a complete ceasefire, the pullback of all heavy weapons and the restoration of Ukraine's border with Russia to Ukrainian control — should be fulfilled by the end of 2015.
The United States, the EU and Germany all expressed alarm over the renewed violence in eastern Ukraine, with Washington warning Russia it would face new punishment if the crisis escalates. Diplomats told AFP on Saturday that EU leaders meeting in Brussels this month were set to extend sanctions on Russia over its involvement in the fighting in Ukraine until the end of 2015.
The sanctions, which target economic sectors such as Russia's banks and oil industry, were imposed after the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over rebel-held eastern Ukraine in July 2014.
At the start of the two-day summit of the world's leading industrial nations, host Angela Merkel greeted Obama in the idyllic Alpine town of Kruen under blue skies, surrounded by locals in traditional dress, drinking beer and eating pretzels.
Merkel is hoping to secure commitments from her G7 guests to tackle global warming to build momentum in the run-up to a major United Nations climate summit in Paris in December.
The German agenda also foresees discussions on global health issues, from Ebola to antibiotics and tropical diseases. But the crises in Ukraine and Greece could overshadow the discussions at Schloss Elmau, a luxury hotel near in the picturesque mountains of southern Germany near the Austrian border.