German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has called for the rapid adoption of the European Union's proposed new sanctions package against Russia, even as Berlin is being accused of holding up its passage.
"For the German government it is absolutely clear that we as the European Union must continue to maintain the pressure of sanctions against Russia," she said at a meeting of Baltic state foreign ministers in Finland on Friday.
She said the German Foreign Office was working "flat out" to try get a consensus on the next round of sanctions.
For the first time, the EU plans to impose strict sanctions against Russia's multi-billion-dollar liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry.
Baerbock said the package should also focus on the role played by countries such as Belarus in helping Russia evade sanctions.
But diplomats in Brussels said this week that it was German concerns and requests for changes that were delaying agreement on the sanctions.
Berlin is calling for a planned rule for subsidiaries to be held liable in the event of violations to be limited to certain goods or cancelled altogether, amid apparent fears that German companies could be held responsible for sanctions violations.