US and allies to hit Russia with new sanctions as outrage over civilian killings grows
The United States and its allies are preparing to impose new sanctions on Moscow over civilian killings in Ukraine as the west makes a fresh attempt to cripple Vladimir Putin’s economy and war effort.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy described the atrocities in his country as “war crimes” while Ukraine authorities said close to more than 4,400 incidents were being investigated.
“Russia will be responsible for Bucha in The Hague,” Ukraine’s prosecutor general Iryna Venediktova said in a statement.
Western sanctions on Russia over its nearly six-week invasion of its neighbour gained new impetus this week after bodies of civilians shot at close range were discovered in the town of Bucha, after a retreat by Russian forces.
Russia, in playbook style, has denied responsibility and suggested the images are fake or the deaths occurred after its troops pulled out. However, satellite images show that bodies were lying on streets in Bucha for days before Russian troops left the town.
The White House said sanctions to be unveiled on Wednesday were in part a response to Bucha. The measures, coordinated between Washington, G7 economies and the European Union, will target Russian banks and officials and ban new investment in Russia.
“The goal is to force them to make a choice,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. “The biggest part of our objective here is to deplete the resources that Putin has to continue his war against Ukraine.”
Psaki declined to comment on reports in the Wall Street Journal that the sanctions would target Putin’s two daughters.
Proposed EU sanctions, which the bloc’s 27 member states must approve, would ban buying Russian coal and prevent Russian ships from entering EU ports. Ursula von der Leyen, the European
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