EU's Kallas says Leipzig attack had hallmarks of state-sponsored terrorism

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WICKLOW, Ireland, Sept 2 - The attempted attack in Leipzig had all the hallmarks of state-sponsored terrorism, the European Union's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Wednesday, adding that Europe needs to coordinate on what more can be done given the escalation of Russia's attacks on Ukraine.

The German government said on Tuesday that it had concluded that Russia was responsible for the attempted drone attack last month.

Speaking ahead of an informal gathering of European foreign ministers in Ireland, Kallas also said that work is ongoing on 1,600 sanctions listings related to Russia's military complex and "maybe there are more to be added".

Ministers arriving at the meeting said the bloc needs to look for more ways to put pressure on Moscow.

"I think we need to now really explore all the options on the table in terms of tightening the sanctions," Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen told reporters.

Lithuania's Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said Europeans need to consider their options and respond.

"It is obvious Russia does not see the political cost of its hybrid activities against us. So for them, this is the cheap way to make tensions in our society," he said, adding that "our goal is to show that these activities will neither intimidate us nor prevent us from supporting Ukraine and maintaining our pressure on Russia".

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said the EU will work on imposing further sanctions on Russian individuals in the coming weeks.

"Pressure on Russia is being stepped up and support for Ukraine also remains at a high level. That is the unity we are demonstrating at this time," he said.

'CLOSE THE UKRAINIAN SKY'

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told reporters that Ukrainians are suffering daily attacks and that Kyiv is working with European countries who have interceptors in storage.

"I hope that we will have additional strong decis...

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