The chief of staff to Germany's new chancellor, Thorsten Frei, has called on Europe to step "out of our comfort zone" and impose tougher sanctions on Russia, such as banning gas and uranium imports and tapping into frozen Russian state assets.

Germany and its NATO partners are prepared to defend every inch of the alliance's territory, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday at a military ceremony in Vilnius to mark the establishment of a German brigade in Lithuania.

Finance ministers from the Group of Seven industrialized nations have agreed to continue backing Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s invasion, German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said on the sidelines of a G-7 meeting in Canada.