As European Union (EU) foreign and defense ministers met in Brussels to consider new sanctions against Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the EU, Germany in particular , to cease all
"trade"
with Russia, in particular to refuse its energy resources.
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“No euros for the occupants, close all your ports to them, do not send them your goods, refuse energy resources”
, he pleaded on Telegram.
"Without trade with you, without your companies and your banks, Russia will have no more money for this war."
But the Europeans, very dependent on Russian hydrocarbons, have ruled out sanctioning this sector.
“Such an embargo would have a very serious influence on the world oil market, a harmful influence on the energy market in Europe
,” the Kremlin warned.
A fierce resistance
Meanwhile, besides Mariupol and kyiv, peaks of the latest Russian violence, Ukrainian forces were still putting up fierce resistance to the invading troops.
In Kharkiv, in northern Ukraine, still bombed, the
status quo
remains.
The city is surrounded by Russian troops on several sides and major axes, but it is not surrounded.
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In Izium, in the northeast, Ukrainian forces have repelled a Russian attempt to seize this city that American experts from the Institute for Study of War do not see
“passing in the short term”
into Russian control.
In the north, still, an ammonia leak around a fertilizer factory near Sioumy has caused concern.
For 2.5 kilometers around, residents had to take shelter in cellars or low-rise buildings to avoid exposure to this lighter-than-air product.
The accident, caused by a bombardment of unspecified origin, was brought under control on Monday morning.
In eastern Ukraine, the front lines have not changed either, as Russian forces lead an offensive from the pro-Russian separatist territories of Donetsk and Luhansk.
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In Odessa, civil society mobilized to support the war effort
kyiv has again accused Russia of having bombed the suburbs of Odessa, the major Black Sea port, for the first time on Monday.
The strike against a residential area caused no casualties.
In Kherson, a southern city occupied by Russian forces, a demonstration of residents was dispersed by automatic weapon fire.
Talks in slow motion
Ukrainian and Russian negotiators held a one-and-a-half-hour videoconference before continuing discussions.
Where are they?
On Sunday, Turkey, mediator between kyiv and Moscow, affirmed that an agreement was close.
Monday, the Kremlin showered these hopes, considering that these talks had not progressed.
A skepticism shared by the Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, another mediator, for whom
"there is still a long way to go"
before the end of the fighting.
For his part, the Russian oligarch Gennady Timchenko, a close associate of Vladimir Putin targeted by Western sanctions, resigned from his post on the board of directors of the gas giant Novatek, the leading producer and exporter of Russian liquefied natural gas.
His assets in the EU and UK had been frozen.
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War in Ukraine: Israel spares Moscow to preserve its interests in Iran and Syria
Moscow, which summoned the American ambassador to Russia on Monday, accuses Joe Biden of having brought Russian-American relations
“to the brink of rupture”
by his
“unworthy”
statements aimed at Vladimir Putin.
The American president had called the latter a
"war criminal"
.
According to the Pentagon, Russia has launched more than 1,100 missiles since the start of the invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
But the US Department of Defense estimates that Moscow still has more than half of its ballistic missile capability.
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