US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met bilaterally during the G7 summit this week to discuss “standing up to Russian aggression."

The White House issued a statement saying that the duration of sanctions against Russia should depend on “Russia’s full implementation of the Minsk agreements.” According to the BBC, European Council President Donald Tusk also signaled a toughening of sanctions in his statements at the summit, saying that “if anyone wants to start a debate about changing the sanctions regime, the discussion could only be about strengthening it.”

G7 leaders are holding talks this week in Germany. Following its absorption of Crimea, Russia was excluded from what was previously known as the G8.

The US and the EU have also imposed economic sanctions on Russian companies and individuals for their role in supporting separatists in eastern Ukraine.

In September 2014 and then again in February 2015, ceasefires were reached in Minsk that established a buffer zone between the separatists and Ukrainian forces. In recent weeks, however, fighting has resumed. The separatists and Ukrainian forces have blamed each other for using heavy weapons that should have been withdrawn from forward positions under the terms of the Minsk II agreement.