Merkel: More sanctions on Russia ‘unavoidable’

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday said that additional sanctions against Russia were “unavoidable” given Moscow’s aggression toward Ukraine.

Merkel told the German parliament that “nothing excuses or justifies Russia’s annexation of Crimea and nothing excuses Russia’s direct or indirect involvement in the fighting in Donetsk and Lugansk,” according to The Associated Press.

{mosads}She said that a lasting cease-fire with pro-Russian separatists in Eastern Ukraine remains out of reach “and therefore economic sanctions remain unavoidable and show that in our efforts to get through the crisis we will need patience and perseverance.”

Her comments come the same day Gen. Philip Breedlove, NATO’s supreme allied commander for Europe, is in the former Soviet satellite state for talks with senior political and military leaders.

The U.S. has provided or committed to nearly $320 million in assistance to Ukraine this year in nonlethal military aid.

President Obama has been unwilling to provide Ukraine with arms it has requested due to concerns the action would further agitate Moscow. Instead, the administration and its European allies have imposed rounds of economic sanctions on Russia in the hopes of altering the nation’s behavior toward Ukraine.

On Tuesday, Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby said the U.S. still would not provide lethal aid to Ukraine’s military.

“We continue to evaluate all Ukrainian requests for military aid and assistance, but right now, the focus remains on nonlethal,” he told reporters during a briefing.

Kirby said “nothing has changed about the nonlethal assistance we continue to flow to Ukrainian armed forces and security forces.”