Mubasher: Germany would back an extension of the European Union’s (EU) sanctions against Russia at an upcoming summit of the bloc’s leaders, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday.

“We will call a spade a spade,” Chancellor Merkel told the German parliament, the Bundestag, stating that Germany “will call for extending sanctions.”

 “We do not accept actual claims [of Russia] regarding the Sea of Azov,” Merkel said.

In 2014, the EU imposed sanctions against Moscow amid the events in Ukraine and Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

The bloc stalled talks on visa-free travel and new framework agreement on cooperation between Brussels and Moscow.

Moreover, the EU banned a number of Russian officials from entry into the bloc, freezing their assets.

In addition, trade, financial and military restriction were applied.

The sanctions against Russia have been extended and expanded more than once, while the current bundle of sanctions will expire at the end of next January.