[LIVE] Zelensky urges West to find deal for Russian oil embargo
Women draped in the Ukrainian flag sing patriotic songs during a demonstration calling for a European embargo on Russian oil and gas outside the Bundestag in Germany.
AFP - JOHN MACDOUGALL
Text by: RFI Follow
4 mins
On the 43rd day of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, this April 7, follow the latest information live.
Advertising
Read more
RFI's Russian editorial site broadcasts Ukrainian public radio (in the Ukrainian language) from
the home page
.
Article updated regularly, click on
this link
to refresh
The main points:
► This Wednesday, Kiev calls on its civilian population to leave the east of the country in the face of
the imminence of the Russian offensive
.
Severodonetsk, the easternmost city held by the Ukrainian army, was the target of sustained bombardment.
Russia is strengthening itself to
"
take control of the whole of Donbass
"
, in eastern Ukraine, and achieve "
a land bridge with Crimea
", annexed by Moscow in 2014, said Tuesday the secretary general of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg.
► The United States announces to sanction
the big Russian banks Sberbank and Alfa Bank
and the two daughters of Vladimir Putin following the discovery of numerous bodies of civilians in several towns near Kiev.
► In the vicinity of Kiev, from which the Russian army has withdrawn, fears of new macabre discoveries are increasing after
the Boutcha massacre
.
New reports have emerged from Ukraine that several localities have seen worse.
“
Butcha is not the worst
,” Oleksiy Arestovitch, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, told YouTube.
"
Anyone who has been to Borodyanka says it's even worse
."
► Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke on Tuesday before the UN Security Council.
He called for Russia to be "
held accountable
" for "
the worst war crimes
" since World War II, he said.
Russia "
categorically
"
denies any involvement in these abuses and has requested a debate in the UN Security Council to rule on the "
hateful provocations
" committed, according to it, by Ukraine in Boutcha.
Times are given in Universal Time (UT)
12:40 a.m.: Will Russia be suspended from the Human Rights Council for its invasion of Ukraine?
This Thursday at 10 a.m., the 193 members of the United Nations General Assembly in New York are called to vote to decide for or against this American proposal.
To suspend Russia from this important UN body, you need the approval of 2/3 of the countries.
Abstentions will not be taken into account.
The United States, like the United Kingdom which supported the American approach, are convinced of obtaining this Thursday enough votes to obtain the suspension of Russia from the Human Rights Council.
"
Given the growing mountain of evidence, Russia should not occupy a position of authority in an organization whose purpose is to promote respect for human rights,
" said Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. Ambassador to the United States. 'UN.
Not only is this the height of hypocrisy, but it is dangerous.
Russia uses its membership of the Human Rights Council as a propaganda platform.
Every lie we hear from the Russian representative is further proof that he does not belong on the Human Rights Council.
»
Other countries called to vote in the UN General Assembly are less certain that the US initiative will get enough votes to be approved.
Russia's UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia has warned that a suspension of Russia from the Human Rights Council would have consequences for peace talks between Russians and Ukrainians.
00:00: Zelensky calls on the West to reach an agreement on an embargo on Russian oil
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday called on Western politicians to quickly reach an agreement on an embargo on Russian oil, arguing that their failure to agree was putting the lives of Ukrainians at risk.
In a video address, Volodymyr Zelensky also said he would continue to insist that Russian banks be completely blocked from the international financial system.
Ukraine's president said Moscow was making so much money from oil exports that it didn't need to take peace talks seriously and called on the "
democratic world
" not to resort to Russian crude.
“
Some politicians are still unable to decide how to limit oil trade with Russia so as not to endanger their own economies
,” said Volodymyr Zelensky, predicting that an oil embargo would nevertheless be imposed.
"
The only question is how many Ukrainians the Russian military will have time to kill for you, some politicians - and we know who you are - to find some resolve
," he added.
© RFI
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Day to day war in Ukraine
Ukraine
Russia
Volodymyr Zelensky
Vladimir Poutine
On the same subject
War in Ukraine - Day 42
The day kyiv called on its population to evacuate eastern Ukraine as soon as possible