German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron have advocated secondary sanctions targeting third-country companies that are helping Russia finance its war against Ukraine, the leaders said on 29 August after a joint government meeting in the French city of Toulon.
“We are ready to adopt additional sanctions on our own, but we also call on the United States to join to force Russia back to the negotiating table,” Macron said at a joint press conference with Merz.
France and Germany announced increased co-operation within the EU and with G7 countries to “further expand and strengthen effective sanctions” to put “maximum pressure on Russia”.
Merz said the US is currently considering additional tariffs on countries that buy Russian energy. “I would very much welcome decisions by the U.S. government to impose them, because these funds largely finance Russia’s military economy,” he said.
The Russian military regularly attacks Ukrainian regions with a variety of weapons – strike UAVs, missiles, KABs and MLRSs.