French President Francois Hollande said on Tuesday, December 13 that he backed extending sanctions on Russia over Ukraine, echoing similar comments from German Chancellor Angela Merkel, with whom he had held a joint news conference, Reuters says.

"We must continue to apply the terms of the Minsk agreement, and when they are not carried out, we must continue with sanctions," said Hollande.

Earlier, Merkel said sanctions against Russia would have to be extended because of a lack of progress in implementing the Minsk ceasefire agreement.

"It will be necessary to extend the sanctions against Russia again - although we would have wished for better progress in the implementation of this process," Merkel told reporters before talks with French President Francois Hollande in Berlin.