Ukraine news – live: Putin’s daughters hit by new sanctions, as Johnson says Bucha attack ‘like genocide’

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Russia blames Ukraine of staging civilian liability in Kyiv

The United States has imposed new sanctions on the families of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov including president Putin’s daughters.

“I made clear that Russia would pay a severe and immediate price for its attrocities in Bucha,” president Joe Biden wrote on Twitter following the announcement.

“Today, along with our Allies and partners, we’re announcing a new round of devastating sanctions.”

US officials said Maria and Katerina Putin, his two adult daughters, will face sanctions as well as Mr Lavrov’s wife and children and members of Russia’s security council.

The move comes as Boris Johnson has gone further in his condemnation of the Russian military’s alleged actions in Bucha, saying the murders of Ukrainian civilians are not “far short of genocide”.

Speaking during a visit to a hospital in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, the UK prime minister said “it is no wonder people are responding in the way that they are.”

Key PointsShow latest update 1649258926Turkey hopeful for further Ukraine-Russia peace talks

Turkey’s foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday that civilian killings in Ukraine had made peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv more difficult but that he expected more negotiations, possibly eventually between foreign ministers.

Speaking at Nato before a meeting with his counterparts, Mr Cavusoglu also said the alliance was aware of Ukraine’s demands for more weapons and allies were looking to step up help.

Joe Middleton6 April 2022 16:28

1649258296UK government freezes assets of Russia’s largest bank in latest sanctions

The UK has imposed an asset freeze on the Kremlin’s largest bank and an end to all new investment into Russia, the government has announced.

The asset freezes will apply against Sberbank — the country’s largest bank — in coordination with the US and the Credit Bank of Moscow.

Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, also committed to end all imports of Russian coal and oil by the end of 2022., writes Ashley Cowburn.

Joe Middleton6 April 2022 16:18

1649257192US Justice Department indicts Russian media baron for sanction violations

The US Justice Department says it has stopped a Russian cybercrime operation and indicted an oligarch for violating sanctions.

“Last month, I said we would leave no stone unturned in our efforts to investigate, arrest, and prosecute those whose criminal acts enable Russia to continue its unjust war in Ukraine,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Wednesday. “That is a promise we are keeping.”

Read below for more on this developing story:

Thomas Kingsley6 April 2022 15:59

1649255733How much oil does the European Union import from Russia?

Europe is the destination for nearly half of Russia’s crude and petroleum product exports, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), a Paris-based agency gathering 31 mostly industrialized countries and much of the EU.

This represents 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil and 1.2 million bpd of petroleum products.

Russia is Europe’s biggest oil supplier, providing just over a quarter of EU oil imports in 2020, according to data from the bloc’s statistics office Eurostat.

Germany is the top buyer of Russian oil in the EU at 555,000 barrels per day, or 34 per cent of its total oil imports in 2021 according to the IEA.

Russia’s neighbor Poland brought in 300,000 bPD or 63 per cent in 2021. Germany and Poland both sit the northern route of the Druzhba pipeline, the main transit route for Russian oil exports to Europe.

In November, the Netherlands imported 748.00 bpd, or 23 per cent of its total, though Germany imported more that month and the country exports rather than consumes much of the fuel from its giant oil refining hub at Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp.

Russia Ukraine War Energy Security

(Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Thomas Kingsley6 April 2022 15:35

1649255656BREAKING: US will sanction Putin and Lavrov’s families while ‘dramatically escalating the financial shock’ on Russia

The United States will impose sanctions on the families of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as part of a new package of penalties meant to “dramatically escalate” the “financial shock” that has been levied against Moscow since Mr Putin ordered an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February.

Andrew Feinberg has more on this developing story:

US will sanction Vladimir Putin and Lavrov’s families

The United States will impose sanctions on the families of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as part of a new package of penalties meant to “dramatically escalate” the “financial shock” that has been levied against Moscow since Mr Putin ordered an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February.

Thomas Kingsley6 April 2022 15:34

1649254782Labour to support any new sanctions against Russia, Keir Starmer says

Sir Keir Starmer has said Labor will support any new sanctions the government brings forward against Russia over its actions in Ukraine.

Speaking during a visit to Bacup in Lancashire, the Labor leader said the UK should provide the Ukrainians with all the support it can.

“That means military support to help them defend their cities and defend their country,” he said.

“It means being absolutely clear with one voice that these war crimes, and they are war crimes, will end up with those responsible being hunted down.

“If the government wants tougher sanctions it knows what it needs to do. Put a package before Parliament, we’ll vote for it, it will go through very quickly.”

(Getty)

Thomas Kingsley6 April 2022 15:19

1649253858Ukraine war could be a ‘long haul,’ Nato head says

Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said the war in Ukraine could be “a long haul”, with Vladimir Putin still intent on eventually taking control of the whole country.

“We have all seen the atrocities that have been committed in Bucha and other places in Ukraine,” he said.

“This reveals the true nature of president Putin’s war. Any targeting and killing of civilians is a war crime and therefore Nato allies are supporting international efforts to establish all the facts, to investigate and to make sure that perpetrators are punished.”

Speaking as Nato foreign minister gathered in Brussels, he said Russia’s forces were being moved out of northern Ukraine to redeploy into the Donbas region in the country’s east “where we are expecting a major offensive”.

“We have seen no indication that President Putin has changed his ambition to control the whole of Ukraine and also to rewrite the international order so we need to be prepared for a long haul.”

(AFP via Getty Images)

Thomas Kingsley6 April 2022 15:04

1649253043’More military support to come’ former UK national security adviser says

Sir Mark Lyall Grant, former UK national security adviser and former UK permanent representative to the UN, said he expected “pledges of more military support.”

He told BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme: “Getting the balance right between military support for Ukraine which helps them in the fight against this Russian invasion and not giving Putin an excuse to escalate the conflict even further.

“I think we will see pledges of more military support of the sort of anti-tank weapons, perhaps also some anti-ship missiles, which haven’t so far reached the theater, and also surface-to-air missiles.

“When it comes to tanks and fighter aircraft … Nato has so far been very reticent, but now that the Czech Republic appears to be deciding to send Russian-made tanks into the theater, there may be some other Nato members who will press to do that as well.”

He added: “Certainly, the evidence of war crimes and human rights abuses that have been uncovered in recent days has raised the level of outrage in the West and definitely increased the willingness to consider further supplies of weapons … if Ukraine is now going to go on the offensive to try and take back territory that’s being occupied by Russia in the east of the country, they are going to need slightly different type of weapons.”

Thomas Kingsley6 April 2022 14:50

1649252143Watch live as Nato foreign ministers arrive at Ukraine meeting in Brussels

Watch live as Nato foreign ministers arrive at Ukraine meeting in Brussels

Thomas Kingsley6 April 2022 14:35

1649251243Hungary ready to pay for gas in roubles if Russia wants that, PM Orban says

Hungary would have no difficulty with paying for gas shipments from Russia in roubles and if Russia asks it to Budapest will do so, prime minister Viktor Orban told a news conference on Wednesday, in reply to a Reuters question.

(AP)

Thomas Kingsley6 April 2022 14:20

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