West readies new sanctions on Russia
LEADS
Published: 05:04 PM,Apr 06,2022 | EDITED : 09:04 PM,Apr 06,2022
1966416
KYIV: Western powers were readying new sanctions against Russia on Wednesday after Ukraine's president called for tougher action and accused Moscow of atrocities during the six-week war. The measures follow an international outcry over hundreds of civilians found dead in areas from which Russian troops have withdrawn around Ukraine's capital, including the town of Bucha.
In a video address to the UN Security Council on Tuesday, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky showed harrowing images of corpses -- including of children -- that he said were victims of Russian atrocities.
'They cut off limbs... slashed their throats. Women were raped and killed in front of their children,' he said, after earlier comparing Russia's attack to the 1937 Nazi bombing of the town of Guernica.
The Kremlin has denied any civilian killings, claiming the images emerging from Bucha and other sites are fakes produced by Ukrainian forces, or that the deaths occurred after Russian soldiers pulled out.
Zelensky called for Russia's exclusion from the UN Security Council, where it is one of five members with veto power, saying it was blocking the UN from carrying out 'the functions for which it was created'.
On Wednesday, Pope Francis -- who has repeatedly called for peace, while not naming Russia or President Vladimir Putin -- also deplored the 'powerlessness of international organisations'.
At his weekly audience at the Vatican, the 85-year-old pontiff kissed a flag he said had come from 'that martyred city Bucha', condemning 'ever more horrendous cruelties' in Ukraine.
The UN General Assembly announced later it would vote on Thursday on suspending Russia from the body's Human Rights Council, after moves by the US and Britain to have it excluded.
Thousands of people have been killed and more than 11 million displaced as refugees or within Ukraine since Russia's war on February 24.
Western powers have already pummelled Russia with debilitating economic sanctions, which forced Moscow on Wednesday to make foreign debt payments on dollar-denominated bonds in rubles.
But the killings in Bucha and elsewhere have galvanised support for Kyiv, with Washington announcing another $100 million in military aid, and produced new momentum for additional sanctions on Moscow.
Washington, in coordination with the G7 and the European Union, is expected on Wednesday to announce measures including a ban on all new investments in Russia.
'You can expect... that they will target Russian government officials, their family members, Russian-owned financial institutions, also state-owned enterprises,' White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told a briefing on Tuesday.
The EU meanwhile was poised to implement a fifth round of sanctions cutting off Russian coal imports -- and European Council chief Charles Michel said that 'sooner or later', it must also impose oil and gas sanctions.
Condemning 'war crimes' in Russia, he said: 'There must be, and there will be, severe consequences for all those responsible.'
But addressing the Irish parliament on Wednesday, Zelensky condemned the 'indecisiveness' on the part of EU nations, which are dependent on Russian energy.
'We still need to convince Europe that Russian oil cannot feed the Russian military machine with new sources of funding,' Zelensky added, calling also for the total exclusion of Russian banks from Western finance.
In Britain, which says it has so far frozen some $350 billion in assets from Putin's 'war chest', Prime Minister Boris Johnson said what happened in Bucha 'doesn't look far short of genocide to me'.
He said the international community 'will be moving again in lockstep to impose more sanctions and more penalties on Vladimir Putin's regime'.
In other moves to isolate Moscow, a string of EU countries including Germany, France, Italy and Spain have expelled more than 200 Russian diplomats and staff between them this week.
The Kremlin called the mass expulsions a 'short-sighted move' that would complicate efforts to negotiate an end to the hostilities.
Putin also warned of 'reprisals' for recent European measures targeting Russian gas giant Gazprom -- and said Moscow would 'monitor' its food exports to 'hostile' nations, raising the spectre of shortages and price spikes.
At the Security Council meeting, Moscow's ambassador rejected Zelensky's claims, saying the 'ungrounded accusations... are not confirmed by any eyewitnesses'.
But satellite photos taken while Bucha was still under Moscow's control show what appear to be bodies lying in streets where the dead were later found by Ukrainian forces and seen by journalists.
And multiple Bucha residents said they had seen Russian soldiers killing civilians.
'Right in front of my eyes, they fired on a man who was going to get food at the supermarket,' said 43-year-old Olena, who declined to give her family name.
During a grim clean-up, the remains of partially burned bodies in black bags were lifted into a van, with officials telling journalists 'dozens of bodies' remained in apartments and in nearby woods. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, who will visit Kyiv this week, has offered the bloc's assistance in documenting proof of war crimes. - AFP
In a video address to the UN Security Council on Tuesday, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky showed harrowing images of corpses -- including of children -- that he said were victims of Russian atrocities.
'They cut off limbs... slashed their throats. Women were raped and killed in front of their children,' he said, after earlier comparing Russia's attack to the 1937 Nazi bombing of the town of Guernica.
The Kremlin has denied any civilian killings, claiming the images emerging from Bucha and other sites are fakes produced by Ukrainian forces, or that the deaths occurred after Russian soldiers pulled out.
Zelensky called for Russia's exclusion from the UN Security Council, where it is one of five members with veto power, saying it was blocking the UN from carrying out 'the functions for which it was created'.
On Wednesday, Pope Francis -- who has repeatedly called for peace, while not naming Russia or President Vladimir Putin -- also deplored the 'powerlessness of international organisations'.
At his weekly audience at the Vatican, the 85-year-old pontiff kissed a flag he said had come from 'that martyred city Bucha', condemning 'ever more horrendous cruelties' in Ukraine.
The UN General Assembly announced later it would vote on Thursday on suspending Russia from the body's Human Rights Council, after moves by the US and Britain to have it excluded.
Thousands of people have been killed and more than 11 million displaced as refugees or within Ukraine since Russia's war on February 24.
Western powers have already pummelled Russia with debilitating economic sanctions, which forced Moscow on Wednesday to make foreign debt payments on dollar-denominated bonds in rubles.
But the killings in Bucha and elsewhere have galvanised support for Kyiv, with Washington announcing another $100 million in military aid, and produced new momentum for additional sanctions on Moscow.
Washington, in coordination with the G7 and the European Union, is expected on Wednesday to announce measures including a ban on all new investments in Russia.
'You can expect... that they will target Russian government officials, their family members, Russian-owned financial institutions, also state-owned enterprises,' White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told a briefing on Tuesday.
The EU meanwhile was poised to implement a fifth round of sanctions cutting off Russian coal imports -- and European Council chief Charles Michel said that 'sooner or later', it must also impose oil and gas sanctions.
Condemning 'war crimes' in Russia, he said: 'There must be, and there will be, severe consequences for all those responsible.'
But addressing the Irish parliament on Wednesday, Zelensky condemned the 'indecisiveness' on the part of EU nations, which are dependent on Russian energy.
'We still need to convince Europe that Russian oil cannot feed the Russian military machine with new sources of funding,' Zelensky added, calling also for the total exclusion of Russian banks from Western finance.
In Britain, which says it has so far frozen some $350 billion in assets from Putin's 'war chest', Prime Minister Boris Johnson said what happened in Bucha 'doesn't look far short of genocide to me'.
He said the international community 'will be moving again in lockstep to impose more sanctions and more penalties on Vladimir Putin's regime'.
In other moves to isolate Moscow, a string of EU countries including Germany, France, Italy and Spain have expelled more than 200 Russian diplomats and staff between them this week.
The Kremlin called the mass expulsions a 'short-sighted move' that would complicate efforts to negotiate an end to the hostilities.
Putin also warned of 'reprisals' for recent European measures targeting Russian gas giant Gazprom -- and said Moscow would 'monitor' its food exports to 'hostile' nations, raising the spectre of shortages and price spikes.
At the Security Council meeting, Moscow's ambassador rejected Zelensky's claims, saying the 'ungrounded accusations... are not confirmed by any eyewitnesses'.
But satellite photos taken while Bucha was still under Moscow's control show what appear to be bodies lying in streets where the dead were later found by Ukrainian forces and seen by journalists.
And multiple Bucha residents said they had seen Russian soldiers killing civilians.
'Right in front of my eyes, they fired on a man who was going to get food at the supermarket,' said 43-year-old Olena, who declined to give her family name.
During a grim clean-up, the remains of partially burned bodies in black bags were lifted into a van, with officials telling journalists 'dozens of bodies' remained in apartments and in nearby woods. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, who will visit Kyiv this week, has offered the bloc's assistance in documenting proof of war crimes. - AFP