INTERNATIONAL: The European Union must be prepared to enact more sanctions against Russia if the situation in and around eastern Ukraine or on the Belarus-Poland border escalates, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has made the statement on Thursday.

Speaking at a joint news conference in Berlin with her Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki, the outgoing Chancellor has stated that the EU had to be united on the issues of Belarus's "weaponisation" of migrants against Poland and Russia's deployment of troops to near its border with Ukraine.

Merkel says any further aggression against the sovereignty of Ukraine would carry a high price,adding that defusing the situation should always be the preferred option.

Polish Morawiecki has shared his view on the migrant crisis with Belarus that Poland would not "give in to political blackmail.”He also added that his country defended "the European Union's outer borders and therefore, we also defend Germany against a large wave of migrants."Merkel has praised Poland's calm handling of the border crisis and has expressed Germany's full solidarity to the Polish prime minister.