KIEV, March 16 – German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the European Union is ready to step up sanctions against Russia if pro-Russian militants violate the truce in eastern Ukraine.

If there are gross violations, for example, against [the Ukrainian-controlled city of] Mariupol, then there will be a decision to step up sanctions, Merkel said at a briefing in Berlin on Monday, following talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.