- Federal minister calls for tougher EU action on gas imports
- Ukraine calls for tougher sanctions on Russia
- Russia says West has declared economic war
LVIV, Ukraine, April 3 – Germany said on Sunday the West would agree to impose more sanctions on Russia in the coming days after Ukraine accused Russian forces of war crimes near Kyiv, threatening the already enormous economic pressures on Russia intensified its invasion.
Russia’s economy is facing its worst crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 after the United States and its allies imposed crippling sanctions over Putin’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine.
Russia on Sunday denied its forces were responsible for the deaths of civilians in the city of Bucha and said Ukraine staged a performance for Western media.
Reuters saw bodies scattered across the city. One appeared to have been handcuffed with the white cloth and shot in the mouth. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of committing “genocide”. Continue reading
The West warned of further sanctions.
“Putin and his supporters will feel the consequences” of their actions, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a statement to reporters at the Chancellery.
Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said the European Union should talk about ending Russian gas imports. Continue reading
Germany, Europe’s largest economy, has so far resisted calls to impose an embargo on energy imports from Russia, saying its economy and those of other European countries are too dependent on it. Russia supplies 40% of Europe’s gas needs.
The United States said those responsible for war crimes must be held accountable, Britain said it was tightening its sanctions and France condemned “massive mistreatment” by Russian forces in Ukraine.
Crushed civilian cars are seen on a street as Russia’s assault on Ukraine continues in the city of Bucha in Kyiv region, Ukraine, April 1, 2022. REUTERS/Oleksandr Ratushniak
Continue reading
SANCTIONS
The Kremlin says Western sanctions — the heaviest in modern history — amount to a declaration of economic war and that Moscow will now look east to partners like China and India.
Largely cut off from Western economies, Russia faces its biggest economic contraction in decades as prices soar. Putin said the West doesn’t understand Russia if it thinks the Russians will give in to sanctions.
Still, shutting off Russian gas – or more of Russia’s natural resources – would wipe out growth in Europe’s largest economies, send energy prices to record highs and send an inflationary shockwave through the global economy.
Russia, which has supplied gas to Europe since the 1970s, would lose hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign exchange earnings. It would likely escalate its response to the West’s “economic warfare.”
“The world is much bigger than Europe – and indeed Russia is much bigger than Europe – so sooner or later we will have a dialogue no matter what the people across the ocean want,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state television Channel One .
Ukraine called for a full oil, gas and coal embargo, a ban on Russian ships and cargo, and the severance of all Russian banks from SWIFT.
Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine killed thousands and displaced millions.
Putin says the “special military operation” in Ukraine is necessary because the United States used Ukraine to threaten Russia and Moscow needed to defend itself against Ukraine’s persecution of Russian speakers.
Ukraine says Moscow has launched a war of aggression and that Putin’s claims of persecution are nonsense.
Writing by Guy Faulconbridge Edited by Alexandra Hudson