Europe will act as one, reaffirmed the Chancellor, following a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. This will include taking a new hard look at energy policy as a whole.

"Some parts of the EU – less Germany than other EU member states – are very heavily dependent on supplies of oil and gas from Russia," said Angela Merkel. Only 35 per cent of Germany’s gas depends on Russian deliveries. "We have a lot of Norwegian and British gas. We are far from being the most dependent nation in Europe," said the Chancellor. Long-term solutions are called for as well here.

No military solution

Angela Merkel assured Eastern European partner countries of Germany’s solidarity, also within the framework of NATO’s mutual assistance clause. Once again she made it quite clear that Germany does not believe in a military solutions. That is why "we must be resolute in all our other actions," declared Angela Merkel.

Further sanctions possible

The Chancellor agrees with Germany’s partners that the occupation of Crimea constitutes a violation of international law. The aim is to help de-escalate the crisis through talks. Should this fail, and the situation escalate further, economic sanctions will be imposed. This third stage of sanctions was decided on by the European Council at its meeting on 21 March.

After talks with Stephen Harper the Chancellor said, she "hopes that we will not have to come to this". But she knows that this decision has the support of business leaders. Business activities need a reliable environment, and the business community has said so quite unequivocally.

OSCE observer mission begins

The German government expressly welcomes the fact that the OSCE observer mission can now begin its work in Ukraine. The mission was approved for an initial period of six months by the OSCE Council and is to involve up to 500 observers. The first observers have already arrived in Ukraine.

The mandate of the OSCE observer mission comprises:

Collecting information and reporting on the security situation, observing human rights, fundamental liberties and minority rights, establishing and maintaining contacts to local, regional and national agencies, civil society, ethnic and religious groups and the local population, promoting dialogue on the ground with a view to defusing tensions and encouraging a normalisation of the situation.

Germany is contributing about one million euros to support the mission: about half of the sum is earmarked for projects and the other half for the seconded observers. Germany has nominated a number of observers; currently the OSCE selection procedures are ongoing.

The objective – an independent Ukraine

The Chancellor clearly stipulated the objective of the efforts of the German government and its partners: Ukraine is to be able to make its own political decisions. It must be able to conduct fair elections and "trade and forge relations with whoever it wishes in its own way. That is a perfectly normal and simple demand."