Russia will be hit with new sanctions worth billions of pounds after Ukraine’s president called on Western leaders to punish Moscow for alleged war crimes.
The United States will later present a new package of measures, including a ban on new investment in Russia and tougher measures against Moscow’s financial institutions and state-owned enterprises.
EU leaders will also meet to approve plans to ban the purchase of Russian coal and to stop Russian ships from entering European ports.
The measures come after an international condemnation of the treatment of Ukrainians in the town of Bucha, where more than 300 bodies were found, including some with their hands tied behind their backs.
Key developments:
• The President of Ukraine will address the Irish Parliament later today • NATO Foreign Ministers will discuss additional support for Ukraine • The President of France agrees to provide technical support for the investigation of alleged war crimes
Hours after telling the UN Security Council on Tuesday that Russia wanted to turn Ukrainians into “silent slaves”, the Ukrainian president warned Western leaders that they were facing a “crucial moment”.
In a nightly address, Vladimir Zelensky said the new sanctions imposed on Russia “must be commensurate with the gravity of the occupiers’ war crimes” and that citizens in Europe and the West want strong action from their leaders.
“We are preparing a new package of powerful sanctions against Russia for everything it has done to our people,” he said.
“It is a crucial time, especially for Western leaders. And this is no longer about how our people will evaluate the new sanctions and what I will say about them.
“It’s about how sanctions decisions will be evaluated in Western societies themselves. After what the world saw in Bucha, sanctions against Russia must be commensurate with the gravity of the occupiers’ war crimes.
Image: Remains of apartment blocks affected by shelling in Borodyanka, Kyiv region Image: Resident searches for his belongings in the remains of a residential building in Borodyanka
“If after that Russian banks will still be able to function as usual … If then the transit of goods to Russia will continue as usual … If then the EU countries will pay for Russian energy resources as usual … Then the political destiny of some leaders will not develop as usual.
“My advice to everyone: feel now that the moment is really crucial.”
EU leaders are meeting in Brussels this morning to discuss new sanctions that require the approval of the bloc’s 27 member states.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the ban on imports of Russian coal will cost Moscow 4 billion euros a year (3.3 billion British pounds), while other planned import bans will cost 5.5 billion euros (4, 5 billion pounds).
Image: 98-year-old Alexei Shterbo walks past his burned-out house and a destroyed Russian tank in the village of Sloboda, near Chernihiv
The EU also plans to ban transactions from four Russian banks, including VTB, and sanction more Russian oligarchs.
EU leaders also want to prevent the export of semiconductors, machinery and transport equipment worth 10 billion euros (8.3 billion British pounds).
Earlier, Ukraine called for a ban on Russian oil imports, something Ms von der Leyen says the EU is working on.
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1:40 The bodies lay in the streets for weeks in Bucha
Earlier on Tuesday, Germany’s foreign minister said EU member states had agreed in principle to suspend fossil fuel imports from Russia altogether, without specifying when that would happen.
In addition to hitting the Russian state, new US sanctions will put additional pressure on government officials and members of their families, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
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0:36 A moment of air strike strikes an ambulance
“The goal is to force them to make choices,” she said. “Most of our goal here is to exhaust the resources that Putin has at his disposal to continue his war against Ukraine.
The Biden administration also approved the transfer of $ 100 million worth of Javelin anti-missile missiles to Ukraine to respond to an “urgent need.”
Russia has withdrawn from the area around the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, which it says will focus on the “liberation” of the eastern Donbass region. The bombing of the southern city of Mariupol also shows no signs of weakening, according to the UK Ministry of Defense.
“Heavy fighting and air strikes” continue and the humanitarian situation is “deteriorating,” the defense ministry said in its latest Twitter update on Wednesday morning.
“Most of the remaining 160,000 people have no light, communication, medicine, heat or water,” it said. “Russian forces have prevented humanitarian access, which is likely to put pressure on defenders to surrender.
Image: Sky’s Mark Austin to interview Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday
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