BERLIN German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Thursday urged Slovakia to drop its veto on the European Union's new sanctions package against Russia. At the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome, Merz emphasized that all countries should increase pressure on Moscow to compel Russian leadership to return to the negotiating table and end the war in Ukraine. “We are preparing the 18th sanctions package within the EU against Russia. There is only one member state missing to agree on that,” Merz told