Europe needs to increase pressure on Russia over its war in Ukraine through more targeted sanctions, said German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius.
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Germany's Defence Minister Boris Pistorius on Tuesday accused Russia of playing for time in peace talks over Ukraine rather than being genuinely interested in a ceasefire.
Pistorius told reporters in Brussels that Russian President Vladimir Putin was "only talking about a ceasefire on his terms", which including blocking Ukraine from becoming a member of NATO and Kyiv's withdrawal from occupied territories.
"Putin is clearly playing for time, unfortunately we have to say Putin is not really interested in peace," the German defence minister said.
"This is my assessment. There is no timetable," Pistorius added of the ongoing ceasefire negotiations, in which the Kremlin has repeatedly refused to agree to a US-proposed 30 day ceasefire agreement.
Russia and Ukraine will "immediately" begin ceasefire negotiations, US President Donald Trump said Monday after separate calls with the leaders of both countries meant to spur progress toward ending the three-year war. It is not clear when or where any talks might take place or who would participate. Putin said the process would take time.
Pistorius also noted that Moscow had further attacked Ukraine since the start of negotiations, including the largest drone attack since the war began on the Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions earlier this week.
Germany would support the European Union in imposing further sanctions against Russia, Pistorius added.
Separately, Pistorius signalled openness to raising Germany's defence spending target to 5% of its GDP — a large increase touted by Trump and a huge leap from the country's current budget which stands at around 2%.
Germany wouldn't be able to meet its NATO goals with a defence budget of 3%, Pistorius said as he opened the door to higher defence spending if needed.
"It's not about achieving 5% in between one year," Pistorius said. "The plan is to achieve that in between 5 to 7 years by increasing the defence budget by 0.2% per annum."
"The most important thing is to start really refilling the NATO requirements," he added.
His comments build on those made by Germany's new Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul in which he backed Trump's push for NATO members to increase defence spending up to 5% of GDP from the existing 2% target.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz has also promised to boost Germany's defence capacities, pledging to make the flailing Bundeswehr the strongest army in Europe and utilise recent easing of the country's debt brake rules to free up money for military spending.