The French president's comments echoed those by German Chancellor Merz, who said European allies would roll out "a significant tightening of sanctions" on Russia if Putin does not agree to a ceasefire.

The ultimatum from Berlin comes as Ukraine said Russia was still carrying out attacks along the front line, despite a ceasefire proposal agreed on the weekend among Kyiv's allies for a 30-day ceasefire to start Monday. The Kremlin said such an ultimatum "is unacceptable for Russia."

U.S. President Donald Trump has said he will lift longstanding sanctions on Syria that severed the country from the global financial

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday he was in favour of imposing new sanctions on Russia in the coming days if Moscow failed to respect a ceasefire, mentioning financial services and oil and gas as possible targets.

The 17th package sees some 200 'shadow fleet' tankers sanctioned. Two countries still need to consult their own parliaments on the details but the package is expected to be adopted next week by the bloc's foreign ministers.

President Trump said he is considering “secondary sanctions” on Russia ahead of potential high-stakes talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volydmyr Zelensky in Turkey on Thursday — and suggested he may attend the negotiations.

Also in today’s newsletter, Modi claims Indian military ‘superiority’ over Pakistan, and China’s CATL to raise at least $4bn

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The Russian economy is in an increasingly precarious state as a result of a shift to a war mode and of Western sanctions over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, a report by the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE) said on Tuesday.