You're reading: Merkel says she’s against arming Ukraine, but sanctions are coming

 German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she is against the West arming Ukraine because it would create an impression that there can be a military solution to the conflict in Ukraine's east.

“We shouldn’t even create the
impression that with weapons shipments and strengthening the
Ukrainian army we could create a solution,” she said at a European Union summit
in Brussels on Aug. 30, according to the Financial Times.

At the same time, Merkel suggested that
EU should find more targets for sanctions in case of further
escalation of the conflict. The new round of sanctions is expected to
target the same industries as had been sanctioned before, namely
banking, energy and defense industries.

Merkel also said that sanctions will
affect individuals who are closely connected with events in the east
of Ukraine.

“The situation has very much
escalated over the last two days and if this continues we will decide
on further sanctions within the week,” Merkel said, according to
Bloomberg.

Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko did not
mince words about Ukrainian-Russian war, warning that it’s
approaching a critical point.

“We are close to the point of no
return,” Poroshenko told a briefing at the EU summit. “Thousands
of foreign troops and hundreds of foreign tanks are now on the
territory of Ukraine.” He called for further negotiations to find a
diplomatic solutions to the crisis.

Ukraine has for months been insisting
that Russia supplies weapons, including tanks and APCs, to terrorists
in the country’s east, and sends volunteers and regular troops to
fight on their behalf. NATO has presented independent evidence of
that.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh
Rasmussen said Aug. 29 that Russia is in “blatant violation of
Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” and that “it
defies all diplomatic efforts for a peaceful solution.”

Russia has denied allegations,
insisting they are nothing but “Ukrainian propaganda.”

Russian-Ukrainian war dominated the
Brussels summit on Aug. 30. Poroshenko had an unprecedented number
of bilateral and multilateral meetings with leaders of western
nations during his one-day trip to Brussels, his press service said.

He said Ukraine “is counting on
decisive actions by the EU, which will stop aggression against
Ukraine.”