The president of the United States, Joe Biden, will speak this week with the members of the G7 about the possibility of imposing sanctions to Russia for the invasion of Ukraine.
“We are always open to additional sanctions (…) I will speak with the members of the G7 this week about what we are going to do or not going to do,” Biden told reporters on Wednesday, when asked about the new round of sanctions announced by the European Commission (EC).
(Also read: Russia: Putin answers about what can happen in the war on May 9)
The G7, a group made up of the largest advanced economies, includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, and its meetings are also attended by European representatives.
The EC proposed on Wednesday a progressive veto on European purchases of Russian oil by the end of the year.
(You can read: European Union proposes to ban Russian oil due to war in Ukraine)
The announcement comes almost a month after the United States decided to ban imports of oil, natural gas and coal from Russia as punishment for the invasion of Ukraine.
The European Commission also announced on Wednesday the proposal to sanction the high-ranking military personnel responsible for the massacres of civilians in Bucha or Mariúpol, two Ukrainian cities devastated after the Russian occupation and symbols of civil suffering during the invasion.
Humanitarian corridors announced in Azovstal
For its part, Russia announced on Wednesday the opening, starting this Thursday and for three days, of a humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians. from the territory of the besieged Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, the Defense Ministry reported.
According to Russia’s Interdepartmental Coordination Headquarters, the corridors will be opened on May 5, 6 and 7 between 0500 GMT and 1500 GMT for “humanitarian reasons.”
During this time slot, “the Armed Forces of Russia and the formations of the Donetsk People’s Republic unilaterally cease any hostility”Defense said in a statement.
The units will withdraw to a “safe distance” and evacuate civilians to any direction they choose, both to the territory of the Russian Federation and to areas controlled by the kyiv authorities, Moscow promised.
The mayor of the battered city, Vadym Boychenko, has said that some 200 civilians are trapped in the metallurgical plant.
Over the weekend it was possible to evacuate almost 160 people from Azovstal and this Wednesday kyiv announced four other humanitarian corridors, without knowing at the moment if it has managed to remove more civilians.
(Also: Ukraine: doctors warn of disorders in war refugees)
Meanwhile, according to the Zvezda television channel, belonging to the Russian Defense Ministry, Russian troops are hammering Azovstal with 152-millimeter artillery fire and multiple Grad launchers, in order to prevent “the Ukrainian military from leaving the catacombs” of the plant .
Ukraine’s chief negotiator, David Arahmiya, told Radio Svoboda (Radio Liberty in Russian) that Russian forces are already on the factory’s territory.
He also stated that communication with the Ukrainian defenders has been restored after being interrupted by constant shelling.
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Zelensky’s call to the UN
Following the Russian attacks on the plant, Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky urged this Wednesday the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, to help “save” the wounded trapped in the Azovstal steelworks, where the last resistance to the Russian invasion of Mariúpol barricaded themselves along with dozens of civilians.
“The lives of the people who are there are in danger … We ask you to help us save them,” Zelenski told Guterres by telephone, emphasizing the need to “help get all the wounded out of Azovstal,” the statement said. Ukrainian Presidency.
Zelensky said the evacuation of a hundred civilians from Azovstal this week, with the help of the UN and the Red Cross, showed the world that “international organizations can be effective” and urged their continuation.
Guterres visited Moscow and kyiv last week, paving the way for evacuations from the war that began when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
EFE and AFP
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