BERLIN — German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday that there was no way Europe would give Russia any relief from economic sanctions imposed over the Ukraine crisis and separatist leaders appointed after Sunday's election could also be added to sanction lists.
"There is no possibility of alleviating or lifting sanctions that have been imposed," she said, urging respect for the Minsk cease-fire agreement reached in September, which Berlin says was violated by the elections in rebel-held eastern Ukraine.
"We should look once again at the list of people who now have positions of responsibility in eastern Ukraine thanks to those illegitimate elections," Merkel said. "Apart from that, we should maintain the sanctions that we have."
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