Amid the new aggravation of the Ukrainian-Russian conflict, Germany and France rejected a proposal to toughen sanctions against Moscow.

At a meeting of the EU Political and Security Committee in Brussels, countries’ representatives spoke in favor of building confidence between the parties to the conflict, DW reported referring to Die Welt.

According to states, sanctions are not part of such measures.

Austria, which currently holds the EU presidency, proposed to expand sanctions against Russia. Estonia and Poland supported this initiative.