Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the European Union to sanction all Russian banks and halt imports of Russian oil, as he issued his latest appeal Tuesday for support in ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking by video to lawmakers in Lithuania, Zelenskyy said if European nations continue to trade with Russia, then Russian leaders “know they will go unpunished.”
EU members have issued multiple rounds of sanctions targeting Russian officials and businesses, but have been reluctant to quickly cut off imports of Russian gas and oil as Zelenskyy has urged. Some European leaders have expressed concerns about how such actions would affect their economies due to their reliance on Russian energy supplies.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday “it’s certainly impossible to isolate anyone in the world of today, especially such a huge country as Russia.” He repeated his claim that Russia’s “special military operation” was meant to protect people in eastern Ukraine and ensure Russia’s security, adding that Russia “had no other choice” and will achieve its goals.
Ukraine said Tuesday that Russian forces are trying to secure control of the besieged southern port city of Mariupol while preparing for expanded operations in the eastern Donetsk region.
The assessment came as Britain’s defense ministry said it expects fighting in eastern Ukraine “will intensify over the next two to three weeks as Russia continues to refocus its efforts there.” A ministry statement said Russia is withdrawing more of its forces from neighboring Belarus and redeploying them to eastern Ukraine.
Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko were due to meet Tuesday to discuss the conflict in Ukraine, according to news agencies in both countries.
Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko told The Associated Press more than 10,000 civilians have died since Russia began its siege of the city and said the true toll could be twice that amount.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address late Monday he fears Russia could use chemical weapons in Ukraine and urged the West to impose more severe sanctions against Russia to prevent it from using such weapons.
Zelenskyy said a representative from a pro-Russia militia in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region said Russia might use chemical weapons in Mariupol.
“We consider it very seriously,” Zelenskyy said.
“I would like to remind world leaders that the possible use of chemical weapons by the Russian military has already been discussed. And already at that time it meant that it was necessary to react to the Russian aggression much harsher and faster,” Zelenskyy said.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Britain was aware of unconfirmed reports that chemical weapons have already been used in Mariupol.
“We are working urgently with partners to verify details. Any use of such weapons would be a callous escalation in this conflict, and we will hold (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and his regime to account,” she said.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said the United States cannot at this time confirm the reports of chemical weapons use, but said if true, they “are deeply concerning.”
He said the reports are “reflective of concerns that we have had about Russia’s potential to use a variety of riot control agents, including tear gas mixed with chemical agents in Ukraine.”
Kirby said the United States was unable to confirm Ukrainian casualty figures in Mariupol because fighting there is ongoing but said the final death toll could be “a significant number.”
The Pentagon said Monday it is seeing early signs of efforts by Russia to reinforce its troops in eastern Ukraine. The U.S. spotted a convoy north of Izyum with command-and-control elements, enablers, artillery and rotary blade air support, according to a senior U.S. defense official.
The official said there also are indications that Russian forces sent from northern Ukraine to Belarus and the Russian town of Valuyki are now moving toward eastern Ukraine.
The official said, “we do not assess a new offensive has started” in eastern Ukraine but added, “what is clear is that the Russians continue to sink to new lows of depravity and brutality, as we saw with the missile strike on a train station last week and their continued assault on Mariupol.”
“We’re certainly bracing ourselves here for some potentially really, really horrible outcomes,” the official said.
The U.S. official said Russia has launched 1,500 missile attacks on Ukraine during 47 days of war, destroying apartment buildings and hospitals throughout the country and killing thousands of Ukrainian civilians.
Russia has acknowledged sustaining “significant” troop losses of its own.
The United Nations says more than 11 million people have fled their homes since the Russian invasion began, including nearly two-thirds of all Ukraine’s children.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
