Merkel not ruling out new sanctions against Russia

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that further restrictive measures could be introduced against Russia.

"They [further sanctions] are not an end in itself for us. However, we will introduce them if necessary," she said at a congress of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Cologne on Tuesday.

According to Merkel, the main purpose of maintaining pressure on Russia is "to ensure the inviolability of the territorial borders of Ukraine," which, in turn, can decide about its future in a self-determined way.