According to the newspaper Welt am Sonntag and the publication Politico, citing sources, it is expected that Merz will officially announce new sanctions against Moscow. "This will be a combination of direct measures from Germany and new EU sanctions that are being prepared in Brussels simultaneously," the publications write. According to one source, in response to the preparation of sabotage in Leipzig, it is no longer sufficient to limit actions to expelling individual Russian diplomats or closing the 'Russian House' in Berlin. The media source believes that more stringent measures are necessary. As possible actions, he mentioned further tightening of sanctions or even larger arms supplies to Ukraine. Sources from the publications referred to the upcoming step by Germany as "Zeitenwende 2.0" - "Turning Point 2.0." This refers to the concept used by former German Chancellor Olaf Scholz after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. At that time, he announced a radical revision of Berlin's relations with Moscow and a change in German security and defense policy. On August 25, Friedrich Merz already stated that those responsible for attempting to organize sabotage in Leipzig would be held accountable. However, at that time, the Chancellor did not make specific accusations against any country. Merz promised to publish the results of the investigation in the near future. According to him, the German government is working intensively with the intelligence services to identify the culprits. Thus, if the information from the sources is confirmed, Berlin may move from investigating the incident to directly accusing Russia and implementing more stringent retaliatory measures. Judging by the phrasing "Zeitenwende 2.0", this may not be just a diplomatic step, but a new stage in Germany's policy towards Moscow.
