- Putin warns of retaliation if the West intervenes
- Biden will comment on Russia’s “brutal war”
- Ukraine says Europe must stop depending on Russia
- France will host EU energy ministers on May 2nd
- Russia denies energy blackmail
WARSAW / SOFIA / Kyiv, April 28 (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned of lightning revenge if countries intervene in Ukraine, while US President Joe Biden was due to comment Thursday in support of Ukraine’s fight against the “brutal war. Russia. “
Russia has told the United States to stop sending weapons to Ukraine, saying large Western arms supplies are fueling the conflict.
Addressing lawmakers in St. Petersburg on Wednesday, Putin said the West wanted to cut Russia to pieces and accused it of pushing Ukraine into conflict with Russia.
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
I’m registering
“If anyone intends to intervene in external events and create strategic threats to Russia that are unacceptable to us, he must know that our retaliatory strikes will be swift,” Putin said, according to a video provided by him. from the Russian media.
“We have all the tools for that, things that no one else can brag about now. And we won’t brag, we’ll use them if necessary. And I want everyone to know that.”
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began on February 24 and turned cities into ruins, forcing more than 5 million people to flee abroad.
Western countries have responded with sanctions and weapons on Ukraine to fight a war that has led to fears of a wider conflict in the West, unthinkable for decades.
Russia calls its intervention a “special operation” to disarm Ukraine and protect it from the Nazis. Ukraine and the West say this is a false pretext for an unprovoked war of aggression by Putin.
Biden will make statements Thursday in support of “Ukrainians defending their country and their freedom against Russia’s brutal war,” the White House said.
As Russia pushes its military attack on eastern and southern Ukraine, its economic battle with the West threatens gas supplies to Europe and shatters the Russian economy as it struggles with the worst crisis since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Ukraine says Europe must stop depending on Russia for trade after it cut off gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland because it does not pay in rubles.
“The sooner everyone in Europe realizes that they cannot rely on Russia for trade, the sooner it will be possible to ensure the stability of European markets,” Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said late Wednesday.
Germany, Russia’s largest energy buyer, hopes to halt Russian oil imports within days, but warned that Russia’s energy embargo or blockade would turn Europe’s largest economy into recession. Read more
Gazprom (GAZP.MM), Russia’s gas export monopoly, cut off gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland on Wednesday as it fails to pay in rubles, a move aimed at easing the impact of sanctions.
While the president of the European Commission said that the suspension of Gazprom is “another attempt by Russia to use gas as a tool for extortion.”
France will host a meeting of EU energy ministers on May 2nd.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia remains a reliable energy supplier and denied involvement in extortion. He declined to say how many countries have agreed to pay for gas in rubles.
Sanctions are hitting Russia hard, with its economy ministry saying in a document that the economy could shrink by as much as 12.4% this year. Read more
Canadian lawmakers voted unanimously Wednesday to call Russia’s attacks on Ukraine “genocide”, with lawmakers saying there was “sufficient evidence of systematic and massive war crimes against humanity” committed by Russia.
The Canadian parliament said in a proposal that Russia’s war crimes include mass atrocities, deliberate killing of civilians, desecration of corpses, forcible transfer of children, torture, physical and mental injuries and rapes. Read more
Russia denies attacking civilians.
Since Russian invasion forces were repulsed on the outskirts of Kyiv last month, Moscow has refocused its operation on eastern Ukraine, launching a new offensive to completely take over two provinces known as Donbass.
Russia’s Black Sea Fleet retains its ability to strike at Ukrainian and coastal targets, despite the losses of the landing ship Saratov and the cruiser Moscow, the British Ministry of Defense said.
About 20 Russian naval ships, including submarines, are in the Black Sea operational zone, the ministry said on Twitter.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
Ukraine said Russian forces used tear gas and stunning grenades to disperse a pro-Ukrainian rally in Kherson, the first major city to take over. A series of powerful explosions caused by rockets hit Kherson later Wednesday, the Ria news agency reported. Read more
Explosions were heard earlier in three Russian provinces bordering Ukraine, authorities said, and an ammunition depot in Belgorod province caught fire. Read more
Kyiv has not confirmed responsibility for these and other incidents, but called them retaliation. “Karma is a cruel thing,” President’s adviser Mihailo Podoliak wrote on social media.
An aide to the mayor of the ruined port city of Mariupol said Russian forces had resumed attacks on the Azovstal steel plant, where fighters and some civilians remained in hiding.
Concerns have also risen from the prospect of the conflict spreading to neighboring Moldova, where pro-Russian separatists have blamed Ukraine for reported attacks this week in their region, which has been occupied by Russian troops since the 1990s.
(This story is corrected to remove the unnecessary word “from” in paragraph 7)
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
I’m registering
Additional reports from Reuters journalists; Writing by Michael Perry; Edited by Robert Birsel
Our standards: Thomson Reuters’ principles of trust.
Add Comment